- Exchange giant leaves less than a year after regional launch.
- USD Coin trading to end on January 31.
- Coinbase says Latin America is still key to its expansion strategy.
Coinbase has pulled the plug on its operations in Argentina, less than a year after launching in the South American nation.
The crypto exchange told its Argentine customers that it will end peso trading in the stablecoin USD Coin on January 31 as it “reevaluates” its offerings. But in further comments to the press, the firm referred to a wider “strategic retreat.”
“Today we notified users in Argentina that, following a review of our local operations, we have made the decision to temporarily take a step back from operating our local services in the market,” a Coinbase official toldForbes Argentina.”
Coinbase’s retreat comes after a rocky 2025 for crypto advocates in Argentina. While savers have flocked to US dollar-pegged stablecoins like USD Coin to protect their money from inflation in recent years, public confidence in the sector took a hit in the wake of a damaging crypto scandal involving President Javier Milei.
No return date
“This is a deliberate pause that allows us to reassess and strengthen our approach, so that we can return with a stronger and more sustainable product offering to the market,” the Coinbase spokesperson told Forbes Argentina.
However, the same spokesperson reportedly refused to comment on “specific timelines for a potential return,” although they “made it clear that the pause does not imply a permanent departure,” Forbes Argentina explained.
A Coinbase spokesperson made a similar statement to the Spanish-language media outlet Bloomberg Línea, adding that the move was a “temporary scaling back,” rather than a permanent exit.
The official said Coinbase wants to “re-enter” Argentina “with an enhanced customer experience,” adding that Latin America “continues to be a central region” for its expansion plans.
Coinbase gained regulatory permission to operate crypto trading services on January 28, 2025.
Forbes Argentina said that Coinbase’s move sends an “ambiguous signal” to the Argentine crypto community.
“It reaffirms the structural attractiveness of the Argentine market,” the media outlet wrote. “But it also exposes the difficulties in converting that potential into stable, long-term operations.”
The exchange is not the only international player to exit Latin America in the past few days.
The Canadian Bitcoin miner Bitfarms, which wound up its Argentina operations last year, announced the sale of its operations in Paraguay on January 2.
The company said it would instead shift its focus to high-performance computing for the AI sector.
Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at tdalper@dlnews.com.
