State-owned Banco Nacional (BN), the largest commercial bank in Costa Rica and one of the biggest in Central America with over $ 7 billion in assets, is launching a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund through its investment management arm, BN Fondos, according to In local reports.
It was marked for the first time that the Costa Ricans would have access to any type of crypto investment product through the country’s banking system.
The firm also launches a S&P 500 ETF next to the Bitcoin vehicle. The minimum investment amount for each fund is $ 100. Investments will be brought to the US dollar instead of Costa Rican’s colones.
“Costa Rican’s regulation) does not allow investments in non -investment vehicles, and Bitcoin is not considered an investment vehicle from a regulation perspective, but the ETF is,” Paul said Montes de Oca, General Manager at BN Fondos.
Banco Nacional serves more than 2.1 million customers in Costa Rica – more than 40% of the country’s population.
Costa Rica There is no formal crypto lawBut under the country’s Constitution and Civil Code, until private parties are concerned, any activity that is not clearly prohibited by law is permitted. Costa Ricans are therefore allowed to trade and own cryptocurrencies based on the fact that there is no law that prohibits it.
A comprehensive bill of crypto regulation called the Crypto Asset Market Law was introduced to the legislative assembly in 2022, but it was stuck at the commission level. The bill aimed at codifying the use of cryptocurrencies for the payment of goods and services in Costa Rica, but without doing any of them – even Bitcoin – legal soft.
