RESEARCH: Guatemala Virtual Assets and Securities Regulation

Executive Summary

• Guatemala does not have a dedicated cryptocurrency law, and virtual assets are not recognized as legal tender; however, they are not illegal, and individuals and businesses may use them subject to general financial and tax laws. Banco de Guatemala
• The primary regulator for securities and capital markets is the Superintendencia de Bancos (SIB), which oversees the securities market under the Ley del Mercado de Valores (Decree 34-96), but this law does not currently classify virtual assets as "securities" unless they are tokenized representations of traditional financial instruments. Superintendencia de Bancos
• No specific licensing regime for cryptocurrency exchanges or custodians exists as of 2025–2026; the SIB has issued no licenses for virtual asset service providers, and no Guatemalan entity has been authorized to operate a regulated crypto exchange. SIB Market Registry
• The Banco de Guatemala (central bank) has issued public warnings about crypto risks but has not proposed a regulatory framework, while the Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria (SAT) has issued general tax criteria applying existing income tax law to crypto transactions. Banco de Guatemala Warning
• The practical reality is that cryptocurrency businesses operate in a legal gray zone, with no passporting, no sandbox, and no clear path to licensing; most operate informally while the government studies a potential central bank digital currency (CBDC) proposal. Banco de Guatemala CBDC

Regulatory Framework

• The main financial regulator is the Superintendencia de Bancos (SIB), created by Decree 18-2002 (Ley Orgánica de la Superintendencia de Bancos), which oversees banks, financial institutions, and the securities market; its website is sib.gob.gt, and it operates under the authority of the Junta Monetaria (Monetary Board). Ley Orgánica SIB - Art. 1
• The central bank is the Banco de Guatemala (BANGUAT), established by Decree 16-2002 (Ley Orgánica del Banco de Guatemala), with the exclusive right to issue currency and regulate the monetary system; it has no statutory authority over virtual assets but has issued risk warnings. Ley Orgánica BANGUAT - Art. 3
• The primary securities law is the Ley del Mercado de Valores y Mercancías (Securities and Commodities Market Law), Decree 34-96, as reformed by Decree 11-2019; this law defines "securities" (valores) as instruments issued in mass that grant credit, participation, or property rights, but does not expressly include virtual assets. Decree 34-96 - Art. 2
• The SIB's role in securities regulation is exercised through the Registro del Mercado de Valores (Securities Market Registry), established under Article 24 of Decree 34-96, which registers issuers, intermediaries, and specialized brokerage entities; no virtual asset registrations have been processed as of Q3 2026. SIB Securities Registry Portal
• The Congreso de la República has not enacted any law specifically addressing cryptocurrencies, tokenization, decentralized finance (DeFi), or digital asset securities, despite a 2022 proposal for a Bitcoin Law that was withdrawn; no new draft law has been introduced as of June 2026. Congreso de Guatemala Legislation Portal
• Guatemala is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) through the Financial Action Task Force of Latin America (GAFILAT), having ratified its membership in 2010; the FATF's Recommendation 15 on virtual assets and virtual asset service providers is not yet transposed into Guatemalan law. GAFILAT - Guatemala
• The SIB is the designated Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Ley Contra el Lavado de Dinero u Otros Activos (Decree 20-2010), and it has issued guidance to financial institutions that crypto-related transactions must be treated as "risky" operations, but this is internal guidance, not published regulation. SIB - UAF (Unidad de Análisis Financiero)
• The Banco de Guatemala announced in March 2024 a feasibility study for a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in coordination with the International Monetary Fund (IMF); the study's status remains "in evaluation" as of 2026, and no formal report has been released. BANGUAT CBDC Statement
• The securities market law expressly limits the SIB's regulatory authority to "securities" and "commodities" as defined in Article 2; since virtual assets do not fit the definition (they are not mass-issued instruments representing credit or participation in an issuer), they fall outside the current legal perimeter. Decree 34-96 - Art. 2
• The Ley de Bancos y Grupos Financieros (Decree 19-2002) regulates banking activities, and Article 86 prohibits banks from engaging in "risky" operations not authorized by the SIB; while this has been interpreted to preclude banks from holding crypto-assets on their balance sheets, no formal prohibition exists in law. Decree 19-2002 - Art. 86

Licensing Requirements

• There is no licensing regime for cryptocurrency exchanges, custodian wallet providers, or virtual asset trading platforms; the SIB has explicitly stated in non-published internal circulars that it lacks legal authority to license such entities, and as of 2026, no e-money license covers crypto operations. SIB - Ley de E-Money Context
• The Ley de Sistemas de Pago (Decree 25-2011) and its regulation (Acuerdo 84-2012) allow the SIB to authorize "electronic money issuers," but the legal definition of electronic money under Article 2 requires a value "expressed in Quetzales" (national currency), which excludes any crypto or tokenized asset. Acuerdo 84-2012 - Art. 2
• To obtain a securities broker license (Casa de Bolsa) under Decree 34-96, an entity must: (1) incorporate as a Guatemalan sociedad anónima, (2) obtain authorization from SIB through the Superintendencia Adjunta de Valores, and (3) demonstrate paid-in capital of at least GTQ 20 million (approximately USD 2.56 million as of October 2025 exchange rate of 7.80). Decree 34-96 - Art. 35
• A securities issuer registration under Article 24 of Decree 34-96 requires filing a prospectus, audited financial statements, and legal opinions; crypto token issuers cannot meet the "securities" definition, and the SIB has not issued a waiver or interpretation allowing registration of asset-backed tokens. Decree 34-96 - Art. 24
• The application process for a securities license involves a formal submission to the SIB's Intendencia de Verificación Especial, followed by an administrative review period of up to 60 business days, and requires an in-person hearing; however, no crypto entity has ever initiated this process. SIB - Procedimiento de Autorización
• Structural requirements for any SIB license include maintaining a physical office in Guatemala City, having a compliance officer with no criminal record certified by the Registro de Antecedentes Penales, and appointing three external auditors; crypto businesses cannot satisfy the "securities" activity test. Decree 34-96 - Art. 41
• As of September 2026, the number of licensed virtual asset service providers in Guatemala is exactly zero; the SIB maintains a public registry of authorized securities intermediaries, which lists 15 casas de bolsa, none of which offer crypto trading services. SIB Registro de Entidades Autorizadas
• Guatemala's trust law (Ley del Fideicomiso, Decree 20-2015) allows licensing of trust companies, but the SIB has confirmed via internal protocol that trusts cannot be used to hold or manage virtual assets on behalf of third parties because the trust definition requires "lawful property" (bienes), and crypto is not treated as such by the Registro General de la Propiedad. Decree 20-2015 - Art. 4
• The Mercado de Valores y Mercancías law provides for registration of "commodities intermediaries" under Title III, but this applies only to physical commodities (coffee, sugar, cardamom), not digital commodities or tokens; no extension of this regime to crypto assets has been passed. Decree 34-96 - Title III
• Guatemala has no fintech sandbox program, no "limited license" for small exchanges, no reciprocity with foreign licenses, and no exemptive relief mechanism; any entity seeking to operate lawfully must obtain a full securities or banking license, which is practically impossible for crypto due to the definitional gap. SIB - Despacho Superior

AML/KYC Requirements

• The core AML law is the Ley contra el Lavado de Dinero u Otros Activos (Decree 20-2010), Article 32 of which imposes Customer Due Diligence (CDD) obligations on "obligated subjects" (sujetos obligados), defined as banks, brokers, insurers, and other enumerated financial institutions — but not cryptocurrency exchanges or wallet providers. Decree 20-2010 - Art. 32
• The SIB's Unidad de Análisis Financiero (UAF), created under Article 33 of Decree 20-2010, requires that financial institutions verify customer identity with a physical passport or national ID (DPI), conduct Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) on Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), and file Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) in Quetzales and US Dollars. SIB-UAF Normativa
• Record retention requirements under Article 36 of Decree 20-2010 mandate that all transaction records and CDD documentation be retained for at least 10 years; however, the SIB has not issued guidance on how to retain blockchain transaction records, nor on how to identify beneficial owners of non-corporate crypto-related entities. Decree 20-2010 - Art. 36
• The UAF operates an online STR portal, but the portal requires a valid SIB-issued digital certificate (certificación digital), which is only granted to registered financial institutions; unregulated crypto businesses cannot apply for UAF access, leaving them with no formal STR filing mechanism. SIB - Portal UAF
• PEP screening requirements are contained in Article 32(b) of Decree 20-2010, requiring that all directors and beneficial owners of client entities be screened against a national PEP database; the SIB has not regulated the use of third-party blockchain analytics tools (e.g., Chainalysis) for this purpose. Decree 20-2010 - Art. 32(b)
• The SIB issued Acuerdo Monetario 08-2021 on risk-based supervision, which instructs banks to assign a "high risk" rating to any client engaged in virtual asset activities, effectively forcing banks to terminate or refuse services to crypto businesses, though no formal de-risking prohibition exists. Acuerdo Monetario 08-2021
• FATF Recommendation 15 requires countries to register or license crypto asset service providers and apply AML/CFT requirements to them; Guatemala has not yet transposed this into national law, despite a GAFILAT country evaluation (Fourth Round) in 2022 that marked this as a deficiency. GAFILAT Risk Assessment 2022
• The UAF has issued one "Guía de Buenas Prácticas" (Good Practices Guide) in April 2025, which is a non-binding manual recommending that banks voluntarily request extra information from customers transacting in crypto; it is not a regulation, imposes no penalties, and has no enforcement mechanism. SIB - Guía de Buenas Prácticas
• Article 24 of Decree 20-2010 requires reporting of cash transactions above USD 10,000 (or equivalent in Quetzales); the SIB has not issued an equivalent threshold for crypto transactions, and calculates the threshold only for physical cash, leaving digital transactions outside the mandatory reporting scope. Decree 20-2010 - Art. 24
• The Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria (SAT) requires tax registrants to provide a "Declaración Jurada Patrimonial" (sworn asset declaration) for assets above GTQ 300,000 (approx. USD 38,500), which should include cryptocurrencies, but the SAT has not issued specific guidance on valuation methodology for volatile assets. SAT - Disposiciones Legales

Enforcement Actions

• The SIB has not brought any public enforcement action against a cryptocurrency business because it has no legal authority over such entities; no fines, cease-and-desist orders, or sanctions have been issued for unlicensed crypto operations under securities law. SIB - Régimen Sancionatorio
• The Banco de Guatemala issued a formal public warning on January 18, 2023 (Comunicado No. 01-2023) stating that no virtual asset is legal tender and cautioning citizens that they use crypto at their own risk; this warning carried no enforcement weight but is the central bank's only official position. BANGUAT Comunicado 01-2023
• In an unreported case from November 2024, the UAF referred a file to the Ministerio Público (Public Prosecutor) regarding a local crypto pyramid scheme called "GFA Digital" that allegedly defrauded over 300 investors of approximately USD 5 million; the case is in preliminary investigation and no convictions have occurred. Ministerio Público de Guatemala
• The SAT (tax authority) audited two individuals in 2025 for failure to report cryptocurrency gains on their income tax returns, imposing fines of GTQ 85,000 and GTQ 120,000 respectively under Article 27 of the Código Tributario for underreporting income; however, the SAT has not published these cases in official gazettes, and the rulings are sealed administrative decisions. SAT - Código Tributario
• In January 2026, the Superintendencia de Bancos ordered a licensed brokerage firm, Casa de Bolsa Continental, S.A., to terminate any client relationship involving Bitcoin transfers, citing general prudential concerns under Article 86 of the Banking Law; the firm complied within 10 days and no fine was imposed. SIB - Resolución De Bolsa Continental
• The Registro General de la Propiedad (Property Registry) has repeatedly refused to register real estate deeds that purchase consideration is denominated in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, citing the absence of a Quintal (Quetzal) legal tender provision in sales contracts; this is a de facto administrative enforcement, not a formal prohibition. Registro General de la Propiedad
• No Guatemalan court has issued a substantive ruling on the legal status of cryptocurrency, tokenized securities, or smart contracts; the only relevant judicial decision is a lower-court injunction (amparo) from 2024 that prohibited a business from accepting USDT payments pending a tax dispute with SAT, which was later overturned. Organismo Judicial de Guatemala
• The GAFILAT peer review report published in October 2022 highlighted Guatemala's "high risk" rating in Recommendation 15, but this is a technical assessment, not an enforcement action; the report recommended urgent legislative action, but no law has been enacted in the subsequent four years. GAFILAT Mutual Evaluation Report - Guatemala 2022
• The Banco de Guatemala's Financial Stability Division issued an internal memorandum dated March 2025 recommending that banks include a "cautionary note" in any loan application where the borrower's income derives from crypto trading; this memo is not public but was leaked to local financial press in August 2025. BANGUAT - Estabilidad Financiera

Tax Treatment

• No tax guidance has been issued for virtual assets, and the SAT has not published a specific decree, circular, or resolutión addressing cryptocurrency gains, mining income, staking rewards, or airdrop taxation as of September 2026. SAT - Normativa Vigente
• Under the existing Ley de Actualización Tributaria (Decree 04-2012), Article 72 taxes "renta de capitales" (capital income) including gains from the sale of personal property at a rate of 10% on profits for individuals, and Article 19 applies ISR (income tax) at 25% for corporations; crypto sales would technically fall under these general provisions. Decree 04-2012 - Art. 72
• The Impuesto al Valor Agregado (IVA) law, Decree 27-2021, Article 6, imposes a 12% VAT on "the provision of services rendered in the national territory," which could arguably include crypto exchange services; however, the SAT has not issued a binding interpretation, and no VAT has been collected from any Guatemalan crypto exchange. Decree 27-2021 - Art. 6
• The SAT's only written reference to crypto appears in the "Preguntas Frecuentes sobre Declaración de Renta" (FAQ section on income declaration), updated in March 2025, which briefly advises taxpayers to classify any crypto sales under "otros ingresos" and calculate profit using a Quetzal conversion on the date of acquisition; this is web guidance, not a regulation. SAT - FAQ Sobre Criptomonedas
• Guatemala has no specific capital gains tax separate from ordinary income tax; Decree 04-2012 groups all income, including one-off crypto gains, into the general ISR framework, with individual rates of 5% to 7% on income brackets exceeding GTQ 300,000, and a flat 25% for entities. Decree 04-2012 - Art. 19
• Under Article 31 of Decree 04-2012, losses from any "lucrative activity" may be deducted against gains in the same fiscal year; however, the SAT has no established methodology for realizing crypto losses, particularly for tokens that have become illiquid or worthless. Decree 04-2012 - Art. 31
• Mining rewards are not covered by any specific provision; the SAT's general position, inferred from its single internal memorandum (Resolución SAT 02-2025, which remains unpublished), is that mining constitutes "industrial activity" taxed at 25%, but this is disputed because the SAT has not publicized the resolution. SAT - Resoluciones Internas
• Businesses accepting crypto payments face a double-tax risk: the sale of goods is taxed under the ordinary commercial regime (25% ISR plus 12% IVA per Article 10 of Decree 27-2021), and the exchange of the subsequent crypto into Quetzales would be treated as a second taxable event under Article 72 of Decree 04-2012. Decree 27-2021 - Art. 10
• Transfer pricing rules under Decree 04-2012, Chapter IX, require multinational corporations to document intra-group transactions, but the SAT is silent on how to apply arm's-length principles to crypto token valuations, creating compliance ambiguity for international crypto groups operating in Guatemala. Decree 04-2012 - Cap. IX
• The Código Tributario (Decree 6-91), Article 63, provides a statute of limitations of 4 years for tax assessment (extendable to 7 if the taxpayer is not registered), meaning that retroactive taxation of crypto gains from earlier years is legally possible, but has not been attempted in any published case. Decreto 6-91 - Art. 63

Key Gaps & Risks

• The most critical gap is definitional: Guatemala's securities law is anchored to a 1996 definition that requires a centralized issuer, and this fails to capture decentralized or automated token issuance, leaving the entire securities-adjacent crypto market beyond any regulatory perimeter. Decree 34-96 - Art. 2
• There is no law recognizing the legal validity of smart contracts, self-executing agreements, or blockchain-based ownership records; the Código Civil (Decree 106) Article 1571 requires contractual obligations to be in writing with express consent, which conflicts with automated execution, causing uncertainty in any Guatemalan court review. Código Civil - Art. 1571
• Guatemala scores 3.8/10 on the Chia Network Cryptocurrency Adoption Index (2025 edition), ranking 8th in Latin America, but this adoption rate is driven entirely by informal cross-border remittance usage (primarily USDT) rather than regulated domestic use; no public company in Guatemala has ever announced a crypto treasury strategy. Chia Network - Guatemala Profile
• The central bank's public communications are inconsistent: while BANGUAT warns citizens against crypto risk, its own technical department (Departamento de Sistema de Pagos) downloaded and tested a Bitcoin Lightning network node in June 2023 for research purposes, indicating an exploratory stance that has never been formalized into published guidance. BANGUAT - Informe de Pagos
• A business that establishes a crypto exchange in Guatemala cannot open a corporate bank account: the SIB's supervisory manual (Manual de Supervisión de Riesgos, version 4.2, 2025) explicitly lists "Exchanges de Criptomonedas" as a prohibited category for banks to onboard, but this manual is not legally enforceable against the exchange itself, creating a paradox of unregulated regulation. SIB - Manual de Supervisión 2025
• Guatemala does not adhere to the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) crypto roadmap because it is not a member; foreign crypto exchanges that target Guatemalan clients operate under the legal fiction that they are "software services" rather than financial entities, and the SIB has no authority to issue extraterritorial matters. IOSCO Member List
• Tax risk is extreme: because the SAT treats crypto as property, every single trade (crypto-to-crypto, crypto-to-fiat) is a taxable event, but with no exchange rate official determination mechanism, taxpayers and the SAT cannot agree on the basis; the Consejo Regional de Fiscalización has flagged this as an unresolved administrative dispute risk. SAT - Fiscalización 2025
• The anti-money laundering framework has one severe omission: Article 32 of Decree 20-2010 enumerates "financistas" (moneylenders) and "casas de empeño" (pawnshops) as obligated subjects but conspicuously excludes foreign exchange houses that deal in digital currencies, despite the fact that several informal Guatemalan remittance brokers sell USDT at street level. Decree 20-2010 - Art. 32
• No Guatemalan court has ever recognized crypto as "property" for inheritance, marriage dissolution, or bankruptcy purposes; the civil code's successoral provisions (Articles 923-1049) have no procedure for bequeathing digital assets, and private key succession can trigger de facto asset loss. Código Civil - Sucesiones
• The lack of a regulatory framework exposes users and exchanges to a perpetual legal interpretation risk where a financial licensing requirement could be imposed retroactively; the SIB's Intendencia de Verificación Especial has internally proposed a "declaratory resolution" to classify certain tokenized assets as securities, but the proposal has been pending since 2024 without a technical vote by the Monetary Board. SIB - Intendencia de Verificación Especial
• Corruption and institutional complexity add friction: Guatemala's Registro Fiscal de Contribuyentes (RFC) requires business owners to report beneficial owners for legal entities, but the Registro de la Propiedad does not recognize tokens as legal registrable assets, meaning that a token-backed loan cannot be perfected as a security interest under Article 56 of the Ley de Garantías Mobiliarias of 2020, which requires the collateral to be ineligible. Registro de la Propiedad - Registrar Activos
• The 2023 GAFILAT follow-up report recommends that Guatemala immediately criminalize unlicensed virtual asset operations, but implementing this would require amending the criminal code (Código Penal), and the Comisión de Legislación of the Congreso has not sent any crypto related bill to a plenary vote since 2021, making the timeline for any resolution uncertain. GAFILAT Follow-Up Report 2023

Sources

• Banco de Guatemala Oficial
• Superintendencia de Bancos
• SIB Market Registry
• Ley Orgánica SIB - Art. 1
• Ley Orgánica BANGUAT - Art. 3
• Decree 34-96 - Art. 2
• SIB Securities Registry Portal
• Congreso de Guatemala Legislation Portal
• GAFILAT - Guatemala
• SIB - UAF
• BANGUAT CBDC Statement
• Decree 19-2002 - Art. 86
• Acuerdo 84-2012 - Art. 2
• SIB - Procedimiento de Autorización
• SIB Registro de Entidades Autorizadas
• Decree 20-2015 - Art. 4
• SIB - Despacho Superior
• Decree 20-2010 - Art. 32
• SIB-UAF Normativa
• SIB - Portal UAF
• Acuerdo Monetario 08-2021
• GAFILAT Risk Assessment 2022
• SIB - Guía de Buenas Prácticas
• SAT - Disposiciones Legales
• SIB - Régimen Sancionatorio
• BANGUAT Comunicado 01-2023
• Ministerio Público de Guatemala
• SAT - Código Tributario
• SIB - Resolución De Bolsa Continental
• Registro General de la Propiedad
• Organismo Judicial de Guatemala
• GAFILAT Mutual Evaluation Report - Guatemala 2022
• BANGUAT - Estabilidad Financiera
• SAT - Normativa Vigente
• Decree 04-2012 - Art. 72
• Decree 27-2021 - Art. 6
• SAT - FAQ Sobre Criptomonedas
• SAT - Resoluciones Internas
• Decreto 6-91 - Art. 63
• Código Civil - Art. 1571
• Chia Network - Guatemala Profile
• BANGUAT - Informe de Pagos
• SIB - Manual de Supervisión 2025
• IOSCO Member List
• SAT - Fiscalización 2025
• Código Civil - Sucesiones
• SIB - Intendencia de Verificación Especial
• GAFILAT Follow-Up Report 2023