Money and exchange rates

Blue dollar in Argentina: how a foreigner exchanges money in 2026

By Nico F. · Updated October 14, 2026

General information, not legal, immigration or tax advice. Rules, exchange rates and prices change and every case has its own details. Before you pay, sign or apply for residency, check the current rules with an Argentine notary (escribano), lawyer or accountant.

Quick answer As of October 9 to 12, 2026, the blue dollar sell price in Argentina is within 0.3% of the official sell rate. On October 9, El Cronista showed the blue at ARS 1,540 and the Banco Nación official rate at ARS 1,535 (sell side), a gap of 0.32%. On the buy side, the side a visitor faces when selling dollars, the blue paid about 2.4% more than the bank that day. The informal market that once paid far more than banks has largely closed since the central bank loosened the currency controls in April 2025. Foreigners get pesos legally through ATMs, card payments, bank transfers and authorized exchange houses. Trading outside authorized entities is still an offense under Law 19.359. Rates move daily: check them on the day.

Dólar blue (blue dollar) is the informal cash price of US dollars. The BCRA is Argentina's central bank. MEP and CCL are legal rates based on securities trades, explained below. A CBU is the 22-digit number of an Argentine bank account. CUIT and CUIL are Argentine tax and labor ID numbers. An escribano is the notary who prepares property deeds.

What is the blue dollar, and why did it exist?

The blue dollar is the price of cash US dollars in the informal market, outside banks and authorized exchange houses. Trackers such as Bluelytics publish it as a separate line next to the official rate.

It existed because of currency controls. Controls known as the cepo limited how many dollars individuals could buy at the official rate from 2019 until April 2025 and opened a gap between the official rate and the free market. Buenos Aires Times, republishing a Bloomberg piece in December 2022, described the system as having "several different exchange rates", including special rates for tourists, cards and exports. The BCRA announced the lifting of most limits on individuals on April 11, 2025.

Is there still a gap between the blue and the official dollar?

Only a small one. The figures below are in pesos per US dollar, with the date and source of each.

Rate Buy Sell As of Source
Wholesale (BCRA reference quote) n/a 1,517.00 October 9, 2026 BCRA statistics API
Official retail (Banco Nación) 1,485 1,535 October 9, 2026 El Cronista
Blue 1,520 1,540 October 9, 2026 El Cronista
MEP (dólar bolsa) 1,536.60 1,537.30 October 9, 2026 El Cronista
CCL (contado con liquidación) 1,611.90 1,613.10 October 9, 2026 El Cronista
Card dollar (dólar tarjeta) 1,930.50 1,995.50 October 9, 2026 DolarApi
Official, per Bluelytics 1,484 1,537 October 12, 2026, 08:15 Bluelytics
Blue, per Bluelytics 1,507 1,540 October 12, 2026, 08:15 Bluelytics

El Cronista reported the blue-to-official gap at 0.32% on October 9, 2026, and the indicator site indicadores.ar showed 0.33% on October 12. Taking the sell prices in the table, the blue is about 0.3% above the Banco Nación rate and about 1.5% above the BCRA wholesale quote used in the table (simple arithmetic on the table). On the buy side the gap is wider: the blue bought at ARS 1,520 against ARS 1,485 at Banco Nación on October 9 (about 2.4%), and Bluelytics showed ARS 1,507 against ARS 1,484 on October 12 (about 1.5%). MEP buy was ARS 1,536.60 on October 9. The widest gap a foreigner meets is not the blue but the CCL, which is about 5% above the Banco Nación sell rate in the same table.

The gap has been larger in 2026. indicadores.ar shows a blue of ARS 1,550 against an official ARS 1,510 on July 22, 2026, a gap of 2.6%, and El Cronista reported on October 7, 2026 that the blue jumped above ARS 1,550 while the wholesale rate fell, a gap of about 2.5% that day. The pattern is a gap that moves within a few percent. It is not the large premium of the controls era.

What changed in April 2025?

The BCRA announced a band system for the wholesale peso-dollar rate on April 11, 2025. The first floor was ARS 1,000 and the first ceiling ARS 1,400 per dollar, and the two edges widened by 1% a month through December 31, 2025. The BCRA says the band continues from January 1, 2026, and from January 2026 the floor and ceiling move apart each month by the latest INDEC inflation rate (two-month lag). Inside the band the peso floats. In October 2026 the floor falls and the ceiling rises: the BCRA page lists a floor of about ARS 713 to 724 and a ceiling of about ARS 1,920 to 1,951, as last updated on September 10, 2026. The market rate in the table sits far from both edges.

For individuals, Allende & Brea reported on April 13, 2025 that people could buy foreign currency in the official market without the earlier limits. ARCA, the national tax agency, said it would remove the tax surcharge on foreign-exchange purchases through the market, except for tourism and card payments by Argentine residents abroad.

Some restriction remains. According to La Nación (August 2, 2026) and other press, citing BCRA Communication "A" 8336, an individual who buys official dollars cannot operate in MEP or CCL for 90 days, and the reverse. A bank can say whether the restriction applies to a non-resident. BCRA's consolidated text (points 3.8.5 and 3.16.3) contains related 90-day declarations, the first for resident individuals and the second for clients that are not resident individuals. A bank can say how it applies to a given customer.

What are the official, wholesale, MEP, CCL and card rates?

Rate Plain meaning Legal status
Wholesale (mayorista) The rate for large interbank trades. It is the base for the BCRA band. Official
Official retail The rate banks and exchange houses show to the public. On October 9, 2026 it was ARS 1,535 against ARS 1,517 for the BCRA wholesale quote; El Cronista showed the wholesale at ARS 1,536.90 that day, so wholesale quotes differ by source. Official
Blue Cash dollars traded outside authorized entities. Outside the legal channel (see below)
MEP (dólar bolsa) A buyer buys a bond or share in pesos and sells it for dollars inside Argentina. Legal securities operation
CCL (contado con liquidación, "cable") The same kind of trade, with the dollars delivered abroad. In the October 9 table it is about 5% above the official sell rate. Legal securities operation
Card dollar (dólar tarjeta) The cost of card spending abroad by Argentine residents. The October 9 sell figure equals the official rate times 1.30 (arithmetic), which fits the 30% advance-payment charge that press reports say ARCA applies to such spending. Aimed at Argentine residents

The 30% charge is aimed at Argentine residents' card spending abroad. How it affects a card issued outside Argentina is not confirmed: check your statement.

In 2022 the BCRA (Communication "A" 7630) let purchases made with foreign-issued cards be settled at the MEP rate, a scheme often called the "tourist dollar", and it did not apply to ATM withdrawals (Buenos Aires Herald, with a note added in April 2024 saying it was still in force). Whether foreign cards still receive an MEP-based rate in October 2026 is not confirmed. With the MEP and the official rate this close, the difference would be small. The card network or your bank sets the conversion, and the card statement shows what was applied.

How does a foreigner legally get pesos?

Route What is documented What to check
Card payments in shops and restaurants Terminals may offer to charge in US dollars. Paying in pesos avoids the merchant's conversion. argentinavisalaw.com (September 2026) puts the mark-up on this "dynamic currency conversion" at 3 to 5%, which is that guide's own figure. Your bank's foreign-transaction fee and the rate it applied.
ATMs Machines in the Link and Banelco networks charge a flat fee per withdrawal that varies by bank, and a foreign card may also incur its home bank's cash-advance or foreign-withdrawal fee (argentinavisalaw.com, September 2026). Withdrawal limits and fees for foreign cards are not confirmed. Check the current terms with the card issuer and the machine's screen.
Wise Wise's help page describes ARS transfers to an Argentine bank account by CBU plus the recipient's CUIT or CUIL, with a cap of the equivalent of USD 18,000 per transfer per calendar month (page read October 12, 2026; it does not say how the per-transfer and monthly caps interact), and delivery usually one working day after Wise converts the money. A recipient with an Argentine account is needed. Wise's help page does not list the sending countries. One outlet (Rio Times, September 25, 2026) reported that Wise does not send to Argentina from the US or the UK. Check wise.com for your sending country.
Western Union A Wise analysis dated September 2, 2025 says Western Union appears to use an undisclosed rate similar to the CCL and adds a margin, and gave a fee of EUR 35 for a cash pickup of EUR 1,000 sent from Spain. Payout is in pesos. That analysis is a competitor's and dated. Compare the calculator's pesos with the MEP and CCL on the same day.
Banks and authorized exchange houses They convert cash and give a receipt. The number that matters is the pesos received after the spread. Any limit on the amount, the ID required and the day's spread. These are not confirmed.

The CCL was about 5% above the Banco Nación sell rate on October 9, 2026.

Cash dollars brought into the country must be declared at customs at USD 10,000 or more as of October 2026 (ARCA General Resolution 5659/2025, described in paying for land in Argentina from abroad).

Crypto is not a route covered here. Argentina's securities regulator, the CNV, requires virtual-asset service providers to register (General Resolutions 994/2024 and 1058/2025), and any provider should be checked in the CNV registry on the day.

Is it legal for a foreigner to use the blue dollar?

Trading foreign exchange without an authorized institution is an offense under the Foreign Exchange Criminal Regime (Law 19.359, consolidated text in Decree 480/1995, article 1): the article covers any exchange trading without an authorized entity and operating in exchange without authorization. The text does not distinguish between the person who buys and the person who sells, and whether a private buyer is prosecuted in practice is not documented. The activity is outside the legal channel and carries legal and practical risk. Press reports describe federal raids on informal exchange offices (cuevas) and bills to repeal the law, none of which has passed.

On the sell side the blue was within 0.3% of the Banco Nación rate on October 9, 2026. On the buy side, the side a visitor faces when selling dollars for pesos, the blue paid about 2.4% more than the bank rate that day (ARS 1,520 against ARS 1,485), and about 1.5% more on Bluelytics figures for October 12 (ARS 1,507 against ARS 1,484). That difference does not cover the legal and counterfeit risks. Press reports describe street changers (arbolitos) leading tourists to cuevas, counterfeit 1,000 and 2,000 peso notes, the "your bills are fake, swap them" trick and short counts. The usual advice repeated across outlets is to use banks or authorized houses, count money before leaving and avoid carrying large amounts of cash. This page does not recommend any informal route.

How do you bring money to buy property in Argentina?

The route and its paperwork are covered in paying for land in Argentina from abroad. In summary:

The same logic applies to an apartment or house. See buying a house or apartment in Argentina as a foreigner and, for land, buying land in Argentina as a non-resident. Urban property was never restricted by the rural land law. Rural land is provisional. According to press reports, the Supreme Court provisionally suspended on October 9, 2026 the decree article that repealed Ley 26.737, so the rural land limits apply for now. A special session of the Chamber of Deputies to reject DNU 70/2023 was requested for October 15, 2026; it needs a quorum of 129, and its outcome is unknown as of October 14, 2026.

Can a foreigner open a bank account in Argentina?

It depends on the bank. According to the Rio Times (2026), banks usually ask for a DNI (the national ID card) plus a CUIL or CUIT, proof of address and sometimes proof of income. Applicants with only a passport face a longer process, and each bank decides. The same article says a peso savings account and one debit card are free under a central bank rule, and that Banco de la Nación has the widest branch network. Brubank requires a DNI, and the Rio Times says fintech apps are generally built around the DNI. Whether any bank opens an account on a passport alone is not confirmed: ask the bank.

According to Baenegocios (December 24, 2025), ARCA General Resolution 5803/2025 replaced the CDI (a tax ID once issued to foreigners with a passport) with the CUIT from March 2, 2026, with a provisional CUIT of up to two years for foreigners without a DNI who live in Argentina and a representative with an Argentine address for non-residents (see CUIT for foreigners in Argentina). ARCA's older CDI information page has not been updated and still describes the CDI as the number needed to open a bank account, with a 30-business-day deadline for non-residents. Ask the bank which ID it accepts.

A wire from abroad can be credited to the seller's account without a buyer's Argentine account; the notary and the seller's bank confirm what they require.

Which taxes apply to moving money?

Any country with its own foreign-account reporting needs the same check. A tax professional is the right person for this part.

Why does the exchange rate still matter if the gap has closed?

Prices in pesos keep rising. INDEC reported monthly inflation of 1.9% for September 2026 and 33.4% over twelve months (published October 13, 2026), so peso prices rise roughly 1.5 to 2% a month, while the official rate has been roughly flat since July (an official ARS 1,510 on July 22 according to indicadores.ar against ARS 1,535 at Banco Nación on October 9). INDEC publishes each month's figure around the middle of the following month: check indec.gob.ar for the latest. A price agreed in dollars does not change when the peso loses value; a price in pesos is eroded by inflation. See cost of living in Argentina for how this reaches daily costs, and the Argentina expat guide for the wider picture of moving.

Where can you check the day's rates?

Compare the same time of day, because the blue, MEP and CCL are quoted continuously and weekend quotes are usually the last Friday close or an informal figure.

See also: paying for land in Argentina from abroad, buying an apartment in Buenos Aires as a foreigner, Argentina land scams: red flags.

Sources

Argentina updates

Rule changes, prices and new guides for buying property and living in Argentina. No fixed schedule.