Estafa.info Releases Argentina Gambling Report Calling for Unified National Framework

Estafa.info published a market analysis advocating that Argentina replace its fragmented online gambling regulation with a national framework to better support players and regulators. According to Estafa.info Argentine market specialist Mariano Marante. Unlike Brazil and Colombia, Argentina has no national online gambling licensing system. Regulatory responsibility sits with the provinces, creating 24 separate jurisdictions when the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires is included. Only 14 currently have functioning online regimes. “I would go a hundred percent for a national system instead of 24 different regulations,” Marante said. “Coverage would be total, fairer, and it would simplify everything, both for the player and for state control over advertising and fraud.” The current structure means gambling rules can change depending on where a player lives. In Greater Buenos Aires, for example, the City and Province operate separate regulatory systems despite being part of the same urban area. Only 10 of More Than 30 Sites Passed Checks Marante conducts hands-on operator testing for Estafa.info, registering accounts, depositing his own money, contacting support and requesting withdrawals before recommending a platform. Of more than 30 Argentine-facing sites tested, only 10 passed the platform’s security and transparency checks. “The gap between accessible and trustworthy is wide, especially under ambiguous regulation like Argentina’s,” he said. Marante checks for a regulator’s seal and verifiable licence number or the .bet.ar domain. He also examines RNG auditing, KYC procedures, responsible gambling tools and whether important terms are clearly accessible. He stressed that internationally licensed operators should not automatically be considered unsafe, pointing to serious operators holding licences from jurisdictions including Malta, Curaçao and the UK. KYC Can Matter More Than Licence Location Marante’s withdrawal testing has also found little difference in payout behaviour based purely on whether an operator holds a local or international licence. Instead, he believes completing KYC properly during registration is particularly important. In one test, additional documentation requested at withdrawal resulted in a week of communication with customer support. “That had nothing to do with the licence, but with how thorough the KYC was from the start,” he said. According to Marante, crypto withdrawals typically clear within 12–24 hours, e-wallets can be almost immediate and bank transfers generally take between one and five days, provided verification has been completed correctly. Regulation Should Focus on Player Protection While Marante believes Argentina has significant potential for gambling operators, he does not think attracting companies should be the primary objective of regulatory reform. Instead, he advocates stronger regulation, greater control over advertising and more action against fraudulent gambling sites. He also rejects the idea that poor experiences with regulated operators justify moving to unlicensed alternatives. “A bad experience on a regulated site is a headache and genuinely annoying, but on an unlicensed site there is no one to complain to, and you can lose your money outright or, in the worst case, your data,” he said.“Playing on dubious platforms is never an alternative for me.” Until Argentina adopts a national framework, Marante believes independent verification remains particularly important. “Someone has to test withdrawals, read the fine print and translate that for a player who just wants to play and deposit without worrying,” he said. “Today, with 24 regulators that do not talk to each other, that work is done by us.” About Estafa.info Estafa.info is an online security and scam-prevention platform that reviews casinos, bookmakers, brokers and cryptocurrency services. Since 2015, it has assessed platforms for security and transparency and identified potentially fraudulent services.