Argentina’s governing tax agency has authorized the seizure of over a thousand cryptocurrency wallets that have been successfully linked to defaulting taxpayers in the country between last year February and today.

According to a study by iProUP, a media outlet, courts across the South American country have mandated the seizure of those wallets belonging to citizens who have a case of outstanding indebtedness against them. The courts also ordered crypto exchanges and work providers to present monthly reports of the connected users of their platforms.

AFIP had already heralded plans back in May to crack down on tax delinquents and have informer crypto services to keep a detailed record of user accounts and financial statements and information that include expenses, income, and average monthly balances.

With this information readily available to the tax authorities, AFIP has been able to enforce restrictions on portfolios that have been linked to errant taxpayers in the past few months.

This move comes as Argentines have continued to embrace cryptocurrency as their escape from the devaluation of the peso, fast-rising inflation, and the general economic meltdown. Reuters recently published a report that mentioned that Argentina had seen a marginal increase in cryptocurrency adoption when compared to other South American countries.

This report citing data from Americas Market Intelligence also mentions that this marginal increase is largely driven by citizens seeking refuge from the rising inflation.

Featured image source: Bitcoin Supports