On Monday, a top Mexican official reiterated the country's ban on the use of cryptocurrencies in its financial system.

Mexico's finance minister, Arturo Herrera, stated that cryptocurrencies are not considered legal tender assets and are not recognised as currencies under the country's current regulatory framework.

Herrera said during a presentation to the Financial Action Task Force, a worldwide anti-money laundering agency, that the sanctions are unlikely to be lifted in the near future.

The statement comes after billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, a well-known bitcoin bull, said on Sunday that he was working to make Banco Azteca the first bank in Mexico to accept bitcoin. Salinas is the chairman of the bank's parent firm, Grupo Salinas.

Herrera's remarks were not directly related to Salinas' vow, although they were made just hours after the businessman's statement.

Herrera announced that his secretariat will issue a four-page statement outlining the government's position.

The Central Bank of Mexico, the Ministry of Finance, and the National Banking and Securities Commission all stated in an unified statement that cryptocurrencies are neither legal tender assets nor currencies under the present legal framework. They also cautioned against the dangers of using cryptocurrency.

Herrera described the text as "unusually thorough" because it is four pages long.

The three organisations reaffirmed their previous warnings regarding crypto's hazards as a medium of exchange, store of value, or other form of investment, which they issued in 2014, 2017 and 2019.

In addition, the paper stated that “in order to preserve a healthy distance between these and the financial system,” financial institutions in Mexico are not permitted to deal with virtual assets such as bitcoin, ether, XRP, and others.

Financial institutions that undertake or offer virtual asset activities without licence will be in violation of the regulations and may face consequences, according to the article.

Bitso, Latin America's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is headquartered in Mexico. The company raised $250 million in its Series C fundraising round in May, valuing it at $2.2 billion.

The government has not permitted the collecting of deposits from the general public “through technology schemes related to blockchain or distributed registries, known as stablecoins,” according to a statement released on Monday.

On CoinDesk TV's "First Mover" programme in May, Bitso CEO Sergio Vogel claimed the exchange, which has 2 million customers, has witnessed a dramatic spike in demand for dollar-linked stablecoins.

Bitso did not react to CoinDesk's attempts for comment right away.