wARS, or Peso Argentino, is a stablecoin fully backed 1:1 by the Argentine peso (ARS). Ripio, a Latin American crypto platform active since 2013, launched it on November 1, 2025. It belongs to the wFiat suite, which comprises six local-currency stablecoins issued by a Ripio subsidiary: wBRL (Brazilian real), wMXN (Mexican peso), wCOP (Colombian peso), wPEN (Peruvian sol), and wCLP (Chilean peso).

This ERC-20 token runs on six EVM-compatible networks: Ethereum, Base, World Chain, Polygon, BSC, and Gnosis. Regulated financial institutions hold reserves of Argentine pesos equal to the circulating supply, ensuring each token is directly collateralized rather than relying on algorithms. Users can mint and redeem wARS via Ripio’s infrastructure.

The wFiat initiative targets a gap in the market where USD-pegged coins dominate, yet Latin Americans prefer transacting in their local currency. wARS enables Argentines to move pesos on-chain without converting to dollars, lowering foreign exchange costs and friction. Primary uses include instant, low-cost local transfers, cross-border remittances with fiat conversion only at endpoints, and DeFi activities like trading, liquidity provision, and lending. Businesses can use it for treasury management, B2B settlements, and on/off-ramp services.

wARS trades on Ripio Exchange with direct ARS conversion capabilities. Market making is active on Uniswap across Ethereum, World Chain, and Base. Third-party wallets support the token on these three chains, and price feed integration is currently in progress.

The wFiat whitepaper, released in October 2025, details the technical and reserve structures for all six coins. Minting is live on all six chains, with the Ethereum deployment starting at block 23527321. Ripio has distributed tokens through retail and B2B channels, including World App integration and partnerships with Argentine platforms like IOL, serving millions of users across Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile.

Future plans include deploying contracts on more EVM chains, launching bridges for cross-chain liquidity and treasury rebalancing, and deepening DeFi integrations with protocols like Uniswap and Aave. The team also aims to support merchant acceptance, QR payments, and consumer wallet features for spending in local currency. A Ripio subsidiary governs the stablecoins under Ripio’s compliance framework in its six operating markets. Further details are available on Ripio’s official website and in the wFiat whitepaper.