Guatemala is the largest economy in Central America and has no law regulating the crypto-asset market: there are warnings from the Bank of Guatemala and, since September 17, 2026, an anti-money-laundering law (Decree 15-2026) that reaches virtual asset service providers, but no market regime for them. To tokenize, what exists is the usual and it works: a securities registry and a commercial trust with decades of practice.
The framework: RMV, Banguat and a law that does not arrive
The Securities and Commodities Market Registry (RMV) registers issuers, offerings and agents under the Securities and Commodities Market Law; the Superintendence of Banks supervises the financial system. Crypto-assets have no market law of their own: the Bank of Guatemala has warned that they are neither legal tender nor backed. What has applied since September 17, 2026, is Decree 15-2026, the Comprehensive Law for the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, which, according to the Superintendence of Banks, adds virtual asset service providers to the entities with anti-money-laundering duties. A tokenized security is a security: it enters through the RMV.
The vehicle: the commercial trust
The Commercial Code trust, with banks and finance companies as trustees, is widely used for guarantees, administration and real estate. It is the Guatemalan variant of the Latin American fideicomiso: segregated estate, supervised trustee and beneficiary rights that can be represented in tokens with transfer restrictions.
What is being tokenized
Real estate in Guatemala City and Antigua, agricultural exports (coffee, sugar, cardamom) and, with remittances as the economic engine, investment products for the diaspora in the United States. The reading for an issuer: there is asset, there is local and diaspora investor, and the vehicle is known; the crypto label adds nothing — the securities label, everything.
How we work with issuers in the country
The anatomy does not change from country to country: classification of the asset, a vehicle with segregated assets, a token with transfer restrictions, verified identity on every transfer and serious custody — the seven-layer platform we build, with the local legal layer on top and a local counsel alongside. The full map of the region is in tokenization in Latin America.
Framework described as of mid-2026; regimes change — check the current status before structuring. Project in Guatemala? Talk to us.