# Lemon's Bitcoin-backed credit card in Argentina has no margin calls > Lemon's Visa credit card in Argentina is secured with bitcoin, has a fixed ARS 1,000,000 monthly limit and bills in pesos. Lemon can sell the locked BTC only after a missed minimum payment. - **Source:** https://ptycoin.com/en/posts/2026-10-02-lemon-bitcoin-backed-credit-card-argentina/ - **Published:** 2026-10-02 - **Category:** Projects - **Author:** Valentina - **Tags:** argentina, bitcoin, fintech, payments, vasp - **Also published in:** [Español](https://ptycoin.com/es/posts/2026-10-02-lemon-bitcoin-backed-credit-card-argentina/) --- Lemon, the Argentine crypto app, sells a Visa credit card that you secure with bitcoin. If the price of bitcoin falls, Lemon does not sell your coins. It can sell them only if you miss the minimum payment. Quotes are from Lemon's written answers to PTYcoin. Lemon [launched the card on 14 January 2026](https://lemon.me/blog/tarjeta-cr%C3%A9dito-bitcoin) and calls it the first Bitcoin-backed credit card in Argentina, a claim we could not confirm. Every cardholder gets the same limit of ARS 1,000,000 a month, and every purchase is billed in pesos. ## A fixed limit in pesos "The Lemon Credit Card does not work like a loan with a variable LTV," Lemon said, referring to loan-to-value, the ratio lenders watch to decide when to liquidate collateral. "In this first stage the amounts are fixed: the user receives a Visa credit card in pesos with a limit of $1,000,000 per month and leaves the corresponding Bitcoin backing." Lemon did not say how much bitcoin that backing is. When the card came out, [The Crypto Times reported](https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/01/15/lemon-launches-argentinas-first-bitcoin-backed-visa-card/), citing local coverage, that users put up 0.01 BTC. Each time a statement closes, Lemon reviews the ratio between the limit and the backing, "so the limit can vary slightly from one month to the next." Asked about a card backed by 0.01 BTC, with ARS 500,000 spent, during a 30% drop in bitcoin, Lemon was direct. "There are no margin calls and no liquidation by LTV. A drop in the price of Bitcoin does not cause the backing to be sold," the company said. "It can, however, adjust the limit at the next close." A crash in the bitcoin price therefore shows up as a lower limit the following month. Anyone who has used DeFi loans or margin accounts on an exchange, where a sharp wick can wipe out a position in minutes, will find this a gentler arrangement. ## When Lemon can sell the bitcoin If the minimum is still unpaid on the due date, Lemon said, the card is frozen for new purchases, interest accrues "for each day with an unpaid balance," and "the Bitcoin backing can be executed to cover the debt." When the backing falls short, all of it is sold and the remainder carries over to the next statement. Otherwise "only the part needed to settle the debt is sold and, if there is anything left over, the surplus goes back to the user's wallet in BTC." Cardholders can also use the backing to pay off the balance whenever they like. All of this requires Lemon to hold the bitcoin while it backs the card, so the arrangement is custodial. People who own bitcoin in order to keep their own keys give that up for whatever they lock here. The issuer's [rate and fee sheet](https://digifin.ghost.io/data-lemon-credit-card/) sets the minimum payment at 100% of taxes, charges and fees, plus up to 20% of net balances and single-payment purchases, and up to 100% of purchases in installments. The exact amount appears on each statement. ## Billed in pesos at the Banco Nación rate "For now, all purchases, in any currency, are paid in pesos at the official Banco Nación exchange rate on the day the statement is paid," Lemon said. A purchase in dollars has no peso price until the bill is paid. It is converted at the official rate of [Banco de la Nación Argentina](https://www.bna.com.ar/Personas) on payment day, and if the peso slides in the meantime, the bill gets bigger. Lemon's launch post says the company is working on letting cardholders pay dollar purchases directly in stablecoins such as USDC or USDT. For now, pesos are the only option. ## Fees and interest Lemon's figures, which match the issuer's sheet: - Maintenance: ARS 7,500 a month, charged only when purchases or installments are outstanding. - Physical card issue and renewal: free. - Replacement after theft or loss: ARS 8,000. "If the total is paid on time, there is no interest," Lemon said, adding that "rates do not change according to the amount or the user's profile." The maintenance waiver, which depends on how much a user buys, is the one thing that varies. Carrying a balance is expensive. The sheet lists financing at 7.21% a month, or 86.54% nominal annual, and a total financial cost of 172.84% a year including VAT. Late payments draw punitive interest of 3.6% a month. At the published rate, an ARS 400,000 balance carried for a month costs about ARS 28,840 before VAT. The waiver is described three different ways. According to Lemon's launch post, Rootstock, a protocol for building applications on the Bitcoin network, covered the first three months after launch. The issuer's sheet counts the free period from each card's start instead, through its third statement close. After that, the sheet waives maintenance for anyone who buys USD 150 or more of digital assets in the app during a calendar month, while the launch post says "more than" USD 150. The sheet also reserves the company's right to change waivers at its discretion. ## Digifin, Bay Treasure Caramel and the CNV registry The card is issued by Digifin S.A. "Digifin is not a financial entity and the funds in the payment account are not deposits," Lemon said. Bay Treasure Caramel S.A. runs the crypto side, and Lemon said it is registered as a virtual asset service provider (PSAV) under No. 162. The registry bears that out. The [public PSAV registry](https://www.cnv.gov.ar/SitioWeb/RegistrosPublicos/Psav) kept by the Comisión Nacional de Valores (CNV), Argentina's securities regulator, lists Bay Treasure Caramel S.A., trade name Lemon Cash, CUIT 30-71753495-2, as entry No. 162, registered on 7 November 2025. Eighty-one legal entities were on the list when we downloaded it. Lemon's entry covers all five activities defined in [CNV Resolución General 1058/2025](https://www.argentina.gob.ar/normativa/nacional/resoluci%C3%B3n-1058-2025-410635/texto), custody and administration of virtual assets among them. A PSAV registration is a filing with the securities regulator and is separate from a banking license. Lemon publishes separate [legal terms](https://lemon.me/terms) for Peru, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Uruguay, Ecuador and Mexico. The card described here is the Argentine one. ## Users, cards and app ratings Lemon reports 4.3 million validated users in Latin America, 2 million Visa Lemon Cards issued across the region, and USD 9.3 billion processed in 2025. It has not released 2026 figures and did not say whether these are audited. The app store listings track the app as a whole. Lemon's Argentine [App Store listing](https://apps.apple.com/ar/app/lemon-billetera-virtual/id1499421511) had 4.2 stars from 4,128 ratings and had just shipped version 3.0.18. On [Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.applemoncash), it had 4.1 stars from 45,529 ratings and more than 5 million downloads. Both list Lemon Cash Inc. as the developer. ## Lemon and other bitcoin-backed credit Lemon's card turns bitcoin into a peso credit line. The bitcoin price can shrink the limit, and only a missed payment can trigger a sale. Revolving costs more than 170% a year, dollar purchases are priced on payment day, and the locked BTC sits with Lemon. Anyone weighing it against [ikigii's BTC loans through Towerbank](/en/posts/2026-09-11-ikigii-towerbank-btc-loans/) should start by comparing what triggers a sale in each. None of this is financial advice. ## How we verified - We downloaded the CNV PSAV registry spreadsheet on 2 October 2026 and matched entry No. 162, the CUIT, trade name, registration date and activity categories. - We saved the issuer's rate and fee sheet and Lemon's launch post on 2 October 2026 and compared their waiver terms with each other and with Lemon's answers. - We checked the Argentine App Store and Google Play listings on 2 October 2026 for ratings, rating counts, downloads, versions and update dates. - We could not independently confirm Digifin's registration with the Banco Central, the "first in Argentina" claim, or how much collateral Lemon currently requires. We did not test the card. --- ## Keep reading - [Lulubit wires local bank rails across Panama, Costa Rica and Guatemala in one custodial app, and the open question is whether that three-country plumbing holds before Panama enacts a VASP law](https://ptycoin.com/en/posts/2026-09-18-lulubit-panama-crypto-app/index.md): Lulubit is Panama City's crypto app with PA/CR/GT local bank rails, Lulucard, and a U.S. virtual account: a small custodial operator in a country with no enacted VASP regime. - [ikigii, Towerbank's Panama-licensed banking app, lets you borrow dollars or stablecoins against Bitcoin at a 50% loan-to-value with a margin call at 65%, so the liquidity arrives without selling the coins](https://ptycoin.com/en/posts/2026-09-11-ikigii-towerbank-btc-loans/index.md): ikigii is Towerbank's SBP-supervised Panama app: borrow USD or stables against BTC at 50% LTV, margin call at 65%, dollar account, Visa debit, and bank custody instead of an offshore desk. - [Littio, Bogotá's YC W23 dollar neobank, issues US ACH and EU IBAN details settled in USDC and EURC, a Mastercard for spend, and Bóvedas advertising up to 9.8% E.A., while Selenio S.A.S. operates as a mandatario outside Superfinanciera supervision](https://ptycoin.com/en/posts/2026-09-04-littio-colombia-dollar-neobank/index.md): Littio is Bogotá's YC W23 dollar neobank: US ACH and EU IBAN rails on USDC/EURC, a Mastercard, and Bóvedas up to 9.8% E.A., run by Selenio as a mandatario, not a bank. --- Source: PTYcoin — https://ptycoin.com/en/posts/2026-10-02-lemon-bitcoin-backed-credit-card-argentina/. Free to read and cite with attribution to ptycoin.com. AI-usage terms: https://ptycoin.com/en/ai-usage/