Banco Galicia (NASDAQ: GGAL), Argentina’s largest private bank by market share, has announced that it will allow its users to buy cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin on its mobile app.
The bank has added a new feature by establishing a partnership with a Lirium-based cryptocurrency infrastructure company Lirium, that enables banks and digital wallets to buy, sell, send and receive (BTC), ether (ETH), USDC, and XRP.
The company also said it will continue to expand the cryptocurrencies and offer custody capabilities while hoping to roll out the service to all customers by mid-May.
Currently, Banco Galicia only allows users the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, but not withdraw or send cryptocurrencies, according to Lirium COO Martin Kopacz.
Annual inflation rates have been going through the roof in Argentina by surging more than 50%. Argentinians, therefore, have resorted to transacting in cryptocurrencies to tame runaway prices.
Crypto usage is speculated to continue rising in Argentina because cryptocurrency is deemed a hedge against a cyclical economic crisis that includes hyperinflation, recession, and repeated currency devaluations.
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Source: https://blockchain.news/news/argentinian-private-bank-banco-galicia-opens-cryptos-trading-service