The boom in apps to buy digital dollars: how they work, advantages and risks

The trend grew strongly during the last year, driven by the expansion of the MEP dollarthe restrictions on the official dollar and the emergence of platforms that allow you to operate with digital dollars from your phone. The phenomenon is no longer limited to young people, it is also beginning to awaken interest among older adults who seek protect your savings.

Among the most used apps for this type of operations are: Mercado Pago, Ualá, Brubank, Reba, Prex and Vesseoalthough not all of them work the same: some allow you to buy dollar MEP and others operate with digital dollars, such as USDC.

“The user expects solve everything in real timefrom the same place and without friction. Home banking remained more of a complementary channel or for traditional ones; the main logic is already mobile-first”explains Sebastián Siseles, CEO of Vesseo.

The growth of these platforms coincides with a change in financial habits of the Argentines. Faced with an economic context with certain instability, many users began to monitor the value of the dollar from their cell phones and make purchases as soon as they detect an opportunity.

The difference, they assure from the sector, is in the speed and simplicity of operation.

“Today an international transfer can take days and have high commissions, while with digital dollars the operation is practically immediate and much cheaper,” says Siseles.

In addition to eliminating waiting times, apps reduce access barriers: all you need is a telephone, identity validation and an account to start operating, without banking hours or in-person procedures.

“The experience of our products in dollars is designed so that anyone can operate in a simple, agile and 100% digital way,” he says. Juan Ignacio OrozHead of Investments Uala.

As the executive explains, the platform allows buy and sell official dollar 24 hours a dayopen a savings account in dollars at no cost and view the crediting of funds in real time from the application. “As a bank, we operate under high standards of security and data protection, with traceable and transparent processes in each operation,” he adds.

The furor for these applications came hand in hand with the growth of “digital dollar”a technological representation of the US dollar that operates within digital platforms and crypto wallets. In many cases, assets such as USD Coin (USDC)designed to maintain one to one parity with the North American currency.

“The big difference is in usability: the digital dollar not only allows you to save, but also to operate and pay directly,” says the executive.

In practice, some applications allow collect payments from abroadmaintain a balance in digital dollars and then use those funds for daily consumption in pesos from the same platform.

In addition to savings in US currency, fintech companies began to add investment tools integrated within the same app. In the case of Ualá, users can invest their dollars directly in a fund in that currency, which according to the company registered a 11.9% return during 2025.

Oroz also highlights that the platform’s financial ecosystem includes dollar operations MEP, fixed terms, stocks, bonds and CEDEARsin addition to accounts paid in pesos. “The idea is that the user can save, invest and manage their money from a single place and in an accessible way,” he summarizes.

Although fintech companies are usually associated with young users, the older adults began to show interest in these tools, especially among those who seek to protect savings against inflation or need to receive money from abroad.

“The main barrier is not access, but trust and familiarity. Many people still associate the financial with the traditional,” explains Siseles.

For this reason, applications began to work on simpler and more accessible experiences: interfaces with fewer steps, more visible buttons, less technical language and guided processes.

“The key is simplicity. That the user does not have to understand the technology behind it, but simply solve what they need, such as changing to dollars or paying, in a simple and secure way,” he adds.

But on the other hand, the growth of the digital dollar also brought a increase in fraud and deception linked to online financial operations. Specialists warn that many traditional scams have migrated to the digital environment.

Among the most frequent maneuvers are phishing cases —false sites or messages that seek to steal personal data—, identity theft and offers with unrealistic quotes that circulate on social networks or messaging services.

To reduce risks, the platforms incorporated two-step authentication systems, biometric validation and data encryption.

Even so, the sector insists that the main tool continues to be prevention. Operate only from official applications, do not share keys or access codes and be wary of promotions that are too convenient are part of the basic recommendations.

In parallel, the progress of these apps reflects a deeper change: the cell phone stopped being just a means of payment and began to take the place of a portable bank branch. For millions of Argentines, even those less accustomed to technology, the relationship with the dollar already passes through the phone screen.