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5 Aug 2026 Last logged Bybit Cold Wallet Compromise, February 2025
Jurisdiction · · 1 min read · 119 words ·As of

Crypto Rules in Mexico

Mexico regulates crypto under its 2018 Fintech Law. The CNBV supervises authorised institutions, and the central bank has restricted banks from offering crypto to the public.

Regulator(s) Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV) and Banco de México (Banxico)

Conisec Staff
Written by Conisec Staff Editorial standards Newsroom
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At a glance

IS TRADING LEGAL
Yes, but narrowly. Holding and trading are not prohibited; providing services is constrained.
LICENSING REGIME
The Fintech Law (Ley para Regular las Instituciones de Tecnología Financiera) creates authorisation categories supervised by the CNBV, with Banxico setting which virtual assets institutions may use.
TAX TREATMENT
Gains are generally brought into the income tax framework; treatment depends on whether the holder is an individual or a business.
REPORTING DUTIES
Authorised institutions are subject to AML obligations and to reporting to the CNBV.
MOST RECENT CHANGE
The practical position has been shaped less by prohibition than by Banxico limiting the virtual assets institutions may offer to the public, which has kept regulated retail access narrow.

Authorised, but deliberately narrow

Mexico legislated early by regional standards. The 2018 Fintech Law created authorisation categories for financial technology institutions and brought virtual assets inside a supervised perimeter rather than leaving them outside it. The CNBV supervises authorised firms; the central bank retains the power to determine which virtual assets those firms may operate with.

Where the constraint actually sits

The binding constraint has generally been the central bank rather than the statute. Banxico has taken a restrictive view of banks and authorised institutions offering virtual-asset services directly to the public, which is why a country with an early legal framework has a comparatively small regulated retail market. Read the two authorities together; the law alone does not describe the position.

Sources

  1. CNBV, Instituciones de Tecnología Financiera (1 Jan 2026)
  2. Banco de México, Virtual assets and financial institutions (1 Jan 2026)

Not legal or tax advice. This is a summary of published rules, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; check the primary sources linked above.

Last reviewed by Conisec Staff. Review cadence: Quarterly.

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