Overview
- The Milei government submitted a four-part Draft Law on the Prevention of Gambling Addiction and Regulation of Online Gambling to Congress on May 22, 2026, seeking new tools to block unauthorized betting sites.
- The bill would make it illegal for banks, payment firms and virtual asset service providers to process transactions for unlicensed gambling operators and would require VASPs to screen and block such payments.
- Enforcement roles would be shared across the Central Bank, the National Securities Commission (CNV), the national communications agency and the domain registry to carry out payment blocks, domain actions and technical restrictions.
- The proposal recasts gambling as a public-health issue led by SEDRONAR and the Ministry of Health and would raise prison terms for operators to three to six years and for supporting service providers to two to four years.
- If passed, licensed crypto firms would face higher KYC and transaction-monitoring costs that could squeeze smaller VASPs and push some offshore or prediction-market platforms that rely on crypto rails to change how they serve Argentine users.