Capital Markets: S&P Merval ETF, Tokenization, and Upcoming Bets for the Next Months

The Argentine capital market is going through a stage of expansion. Although it still maintains a small scale compared to other markets in the region, it already exceeds 14 million client accounts in Caja de Valores. In parallel, the deregulation driven by the National Securities Commission (CNV), along with the incorporation of more advanced technology and the expansion of access to financial products, are factors that are beginning to redefine the development of the industry.

Beyond the macroeconomic context, the main entities in the sector are already working on an agenda that combines new investment products, asset tokenization, infrastructure for stablecoins, and mechanisms to expand access to credit.

During a sector meeting, representatives from BYMA, A3 Mercados, and MAV agreed that the next stage of market development will not be explained solely by macroeconomic improvement, but also by the incorporation of new technologies and products that allow for a broader investor base, key for economic growth.

The first Argentine ETF, before the end of the year

One of the most anticipated announcements is the launch of the first local ETF. The director of BYMA, Gonzalo Pascual Merlo, confirmed that the process has already begun. "What I am looking forward to the most is the launch of local ETFs. We expect it to be released before the end of the year," he announced during the event organized by the Chamber of Stock Agents.

As he explained, BYMA has already started the bidding process to initiate the project, and the initial signals are positive. He also mentioned that it could be launched between September and October. This is a key product for the development of the local market, as it would allow trading both in Argentina and abroad, expanding investment alternatives and favoring, in the medium term, a greater influx of capital into a market that still shows low participation from foreign investors, especially in the equity segment.

Currently, the Argentine market has more than 40 CEDEARs of ETFs, which allow access from a local account to diversified portfolios by sectors, regions, or assets such as gold and cryptocurrencies, through a single instrument. The creation of a local ETF would mark an additional step in that process of market sophistication.
Currently, the Argentine market has more than 40 CEDEARs of ETFs

Stablecoins and Infrastructure for Digital Assets

From A3 Mercados, they anticipated during the event and expanded to Ámbito that they are working on Primary X, a new technological infrastructure unit for the digital asset ecosystem.

The project aims to develop a wholesale spot market for virtual assets under the figure of Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP), integrated into the infrastructure of A3 Mercados. Its objective is to offer a local, safe, and regulated environment for the trading and settlement of assets such as USDT, USDC, bitcoin, and ether between VASPs and ALyCs operating with their own portfolios, reducing costs, time, and the risks associated with OTC operations and foreign exchanges.

"We saw the need to get closer to the fintech world and thought that the great instrument for massifying the capital market was the FCI. From that side, we stopped being a software provider to become an infrastructure provider," said the CEO of A3 Mercados, Diego Fernández.

Regarding the crypto market, Fernández highlighted that, although Argentina already has futures contracts on bitcoin, its development continues to be incipient and with low trading volume. He also noted that today, Argentine investors wanting to expose themselves to bitcoin operate directly through exchanges, where there is greater liquidity and trading 24 hours a day. Furthermore, he pointed out that local futures are traded in pesos, while the bitcoin market mainly operates in dollars or stablecoins, which detracts from the product's attractiveness.

Instruments to Expand Financing

Another ongoing development aims to broaden retail investors' access to private credit. Currently, private sector credit accounts for 11% of GDP, well below the levels of other countries in the region. In this context, credit channeled through the MAV represents only a small fraction of that market, around 4%.

MAV explained that they are working on technology that allows tokenizing electronic credit invoices (FCE) so that they can be traded more easily within the capital market. The initiative seeks to bring this type of asset closer to SMEs, as they are currently concentrated among large institutional players.

At the same time, the entity is also working on mechanisms to use financial assets as collateral for new issuances. The idea is to allow an investor to issue a promissory note by leaving another financial instrument as collateral.

The use of real and financial assets as collateral is also among BYMA's priorities. The entity stated that there is a huge opportunity to expand credit through more sophisticated collateral mechanisms.

"There is a gigantic opportunity for collateralizing real assets to start enabling credit in a different way." In this line, A3 emphasized the importance of advancing towards a Federal Guarantee Registration System (SFRG) that facilitates these types of operations.

This project consists of creating a unique, digital, and national registry where guarantees backing a credit can be registered. The idea is to facilitate financing, especially for SMEs, allowing a greater variety of assets to be used as backing to obtain loans.

Another advancement expected in the coming months is greater development of closed-end mutual funds, especially those oriented towards real estate projects under structures similar to REITs, a scheme that in Argentina took its first step just a month ago.

This is a fund managed by Ciclo Nova Asset Management, with Banco Comafi as the depositary institution, which allows savings to be channeled into real estate assets through a regulated vehicle with a public offering, expanding the available alternatives for investors and strengthening long-term financing sources for the real economy. The expectation is that these vehicles will complement the financing instruments that already exist in the market.

The Pending Challenge: More International Investors

Beyond innovation, market leaders agreed that one of the main challenges remains increasing the participation of foreign capital. From A3, it was emphasized that the Argentine derivatives market is still practically domestic. "The Argentine derivatives market has virtually no participation from foreign capital."

Meanwhile, BYMA pointed out that Argentina still needs to attract long-term institutional investors. "Argentina lacks long-term smart money players." They also warned that the current classification of the country as a standalone market limits the entry of international funds.

Currently, foreign active funds still cannot invest, even in Argentine stocks, due to regulatory issues related to the country’s international classification.

MAV also focused on the development of domestic financing. Fernando Luciani highlighted that the credit traded in the market still represents a very small portion compared to the growth potential. "Credit in MAV represents only 4% of the 11% that private credit represents over GDP. That needs to multiply by ten," he stated.

A final aspect related to regulations: so far in 2026, the CNV is promoting a process of modernization and regulatory simplification through a package of measures called "Big Bang", with the issuance of 53 General Resolutions.

The initiative replaced numerous prior authorization schemes with automatic authorization mechanisms, expanded the Automatic Public Offering regime, simplified the regimes for SMEs and Frequent Issuers, incorporated the private offering (safe harbor) regime, relaxed currency restrictions for the capital market, eliminated barriers for dual listings, and modernized financing instruments, such as the hard dollar promissory note and the product promissory note.

With a market that incorporates new investors, a regulation aimed at simplifying processes, and an industry that accelerates the development of new products and infrastructure, the Argentine capital market is beginning to enter a new stage. The consolidation of instruments such as local ETFs, asset tokenization, the use of new guarantees to expand credit, and infrastructure for digital assets appears to be one of the main drivers of growth for the coming years.