Guatemala is the largest economy in Central America and has no law regulating the crypto-asset market: there are warnings from the Superintendence of Banks 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, the Superintendence of Banks and Decree 15-2026
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 Superintendence of Banks warned in a statement of February 19, 2021 that they are neither legal tender nor backed by the State, a position the press reported again in 2024 (Prensa Libre). 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 makes virtual asset service providers obliged persons for anti-money-laundering purposes (article 3). They must register with the Superintendence of Banks through its Special Verification Unit (IVE), and registration does not replace any authorization or license their activity requires (article 5). Anyone can ask the IVE whether a person or company is registered, on the terms the implementing regulation sets (article 7). Status as of November 1, 2026: the law gives the Superintendence of Banks up to six months from its entry into force to draft that regulation and submit it to the President (article 127), and we have not found it published. 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 and reviewed as of November 1, 2026, for Decree 15-2026; regimes change — check the current status before structuring. Project in Guatemala? Talk to us.
Sources and regulations cited
- Decree 15-2026 · congreso.gob.gt