Costa Rica Makes First Foray Into Crypto with New Bitcoin ETF

Banco Nacional (BN), Costa Rica's largest bank with over $7 billion in assets, is launching the country's first bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) through its investment arm, BN Fondos. This allows Costa Ricans to invest in bitcoin through their banking system for the first time. An S&P 500 ETF is also launching simultaneously. The minimum investment for either fund is $100 USD. While Costa Rican regulation doesn't classify bitcoin itself as an investment vehicle, the ETF structure allows investment. BN serves over 2.1 million customers, representing over 40% of the country's population. While Costa Rica has no specific crypto laws, activities not explicitly forbidden are permitted, so owning and trading cryptocurrencies is technically allowed. A comprehensive crypto regulation bill introduced in 2022 aimed to legalize crypto for payments, but it stalled and did not propose making any cryptocurrency legal tender.