Mexico: crypto and stablecoin regulation (as of 1 November 2026)

As of 2026-11-01

Mexico regulates virtual assets (activos virtuales) in the Ley para Regular las Instituciones de Tecnología Financiera (Ley Fintech) and in rules of the Banco de México. Fintech institutions (instituciones de tecnología financiera, ITFs) may operate only with the virtual assets the Banco de México determines, and need its prior authorisation. Under Banco de México Circular 4/2019, credit institutions and ITFs may carry out only internal operations with virtual assets. The Ley Fintech does not treat as a virtual asset any asset denominated in legal tender or foreign currency.

This page states what the official sources say. It is not legal advice.

Status as of 1 November 2026

Status	Rule	Since / from	Source
In force	Ley Fintech, chapter on operations with virtual assets (Arts. 30-34). The consolidated text (texto vigente) shows the last reform published in the DOF on 14 November 2025.	9 March 2018 (DOF publication)	Cámara de Diputados
In force	Banco de México Circular 4/2019: credit institutions and ITFs may carry out only virtual-asset operations that are internal operations (Operaciones Internas), subject to prior Banco de México authorisation. It entered into force on the day after its publication in the DOF on 8 March 2019.	From the day after its publication in the DOF on 8 March 2019	DOF
In force	Banco de México Circular 37/2020 amends Circular 4/2019. Signed on 23 September 2020 and published in the DOF on 30 September 2020.	1 October 2020	Banco de México
Pending	Resolution of the SHCP Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera (UIF), published in the DOF on 24 September 2026, amending the official formats of the notices and reports (avisos e informes) that persons carrying out vulnerable activities (actividades vulnerables) must file. The formats include report fields for purchases and sales of virtual assets ("Datos de la(s) operación(es) de compra de activos virtuales"; "Datos de la(s) operación(es) de venta de activos virtuales"). It enters into force on 1 June 2027, except as its fifth transitional article provides ("salvo lo previsto en el quinto transitorio").	1 June 2027	DOF
Not law	No stablecoin-specific rule in force was found. The Ley Fintech excludes from "activo virtual" legal tender, foreign currencies and any other asset denominated in legal tender or foreign currency.	—	Cámara de Diputados

Key rules

What is not a virtual asset. Legal tender in Mexico, foreign currencies (divisas) and any other asset denominated in legal tender or foreign currency are in no case virtual assets under the Ley Fintech. (Cámara de Diputados)
Which virtual assets ITFs may use. ITFs may operate only with the virtual assets that the Banco de México determines by general provisions (disposiciones de carácter general). To operate with them, ITFs need the Banco de México's prior authorisation. (Cámara de Diputados)
Risk disclosure. ITFs that operate with virtual assets must disclose to their clients that the virtual asset is not legal tender and is not backed by the Federal Government or the Banco de México, that operations may be impossible to reverse once executed, the volatility of the virtual asset's value, and the technological, cyber and fraud risks inherent in virtual assets. (Cámara de Diputados)
Banks and ITFs: internal operations only. Under Circular 4/2019, institutions may carry out only virtual-asset operations that are internal operations, subject to the Banco de México's prior authorisation, and are banned from operating with virtual assets on terms other than those of the authorisation. (DOF)
No client-facing authorisation. The Banco de México says its regulation sets up an authorisation mechanism for institutions' internal use of virtual assets, without any authorisation for virtual-asset operations facing the client. (Banco de México)
Virtual-asset exchange houses. The Banco de México says virtual-asset exchange houses (casas de cambio de activos virtuales) that offer buying and selling of virtual assets to the public could continue to offer their services, as long as they do not take deposits (captación) or hold their clients' funds in pesos or foreign currency. (Banco de México)
SPEI 24-hour credit. The Banco de México says it included in the rules of SPEI, its payment system, a requirement that transfers sent to clients of participants that carry out virtual-asset operations be credited after 24 hours; the page does not date this change. (Banco de México)

Timeline

Date	Event	Source
9 March 2018	Ley Fintech published in the DOF	Cámara de Diputados
8 March 2019	Banco de México Circular 4/2019 published in the DOF; it entered into force on the day after its publication	DOF
23 September 2020	Banco de México Circular 37/2020, amending Circular 4/2019, signed	Banco de México
30 September 2020	Circular 37/2020 published in the DOF	Banco de México
1 October 2020	Circular 37/2020 in force	Banco de México
14 November 2025	Last reform of the Ley Fintech published in the DOF, per the consolidated text	Cámara de Diputados
24 September 2026	SHCP/UIF resolution amending the report formats for vulnerable activities, including virtual-asset purchase and sale report fields, published in the DOF	DOF
1 June 2027	The 24 September 2026 resolution on report formats enters into force, except as its fifth transitional article provides	DOF

Not covered here

The texts this page uses do not state how the Ley Fintech's exclusion of assets denominated in legal tender or foreign currency applies to stablecoins referenced to a fiat currency. The Banco de México pages read for this page publish no list of authorised virtual assets or of authorisations under Circular 4/2019, and no public register of virtual asset service providers was found; the CNBV register of authorised ITFs was not checked.

Sources

Updated: 2026-11-01 · Markdown version