Uruguay put virtual assets inside its ordinary financial-supervision perimeter. Ley N° 20.345, titled 'REGULACION DE LOS ACTIVOS VIRTUALES', was promulgated on 19 September 2024 and published on 27 September 2024; it works by amending existing statutes.
Its article 1 rewrote article 37 of the Banco Central del Uruguay's charter (Ley N° 16.696) so that the list of entities making up the financial system - the entities the BCU regulates and supervises through its Superintendencia de Servicios Financieros - now includes issuers of stable virtual assets and providers of services on virtual assets. That article was rewritten again, keeping both categories, by article 693 of Ley N° 20.446 of 16 December 2025, so the current text differs from the 2024 original.
A perpetual on VIRTUAL tracks price and does not confer ownership of the underlying — the same contract mechanics apply in every jurisdiction; what differs by country is legal status and funding rails.
8 venues open Virtuals Protocol perps to traders in Uruguay.
ApeX
Aster
Avantis
gTrade
Helix
Hyperliquid
Lighter
PacificaFour steps from sign-up to an open position.
Individual cryptocurrency gains in Uruguay are taxed at 12% under the IRPF personal income tax; businesses pay 25% IRAE.
Trading VIRTUAL from Uruguay: legal.
Banco Central del Uruguay (BCU), through the Superintendencia de Servicios Financieros (SSF).
For Uruguay residents trading Virtuals Protocol: Individual cryptocurrency gains in Uruguay are taxed at 12% under the IRPF personal income tax; businesses pay 25% IRAE.
As of 2021, Uruguay had no cryptocurrency-specific regulations, but the Central Bank said it might issue AML/KYC rules for virtual assets that year.