Banco Nacional (BN), state -owned, the largest commercial bank in Costa Rica and one of the largest in Central America with more than $ 7 billion in assets, launches a Bitcoin Bitcoin Fund Thanks to its investment management branch, BN Fondos, depending on local reports.
This marks the first time that Costaricians will have access to any type of cryptographic investment product via the country’s banking system.
The company also launches an ETF S&P 500 alongside the Bitcoin vehicle. The minimum investment amount for each fund is $ 100. Investments will be made in US dollars instead of Costa Rican colones.
“”[Costa Rican] The regulations do not allow investments in things that are not investment vehicles, and Bitcoin is not considered an investment vehicle from a regulatory perspective, but ETF is, “said Pablo Montes of OCA, managing director of BN Fondos.
Banco Nacional serves more than 2.1 million customers in Costa Rica – more than 40% of the country’s population.
The Costa Rica has no official laws in crypto, but under the constitution of the country and the civil code, with regard to the private parties, any activity which is not explicitly prohibited by law is authorized. Costaricians are therefore technically authorized to exchange and have cryptocurrencies depending on the fact that no law prohibits it.
A full bill on cryptography regulations called the law on the cryptographic asset market was introduced to the Legislative Assembly in 2022, but it was stuck at the commission level. The bill aimed to codify the use of cryptocurrencies for the payment of goods and services in Costa Rica, but without making any bitcoin – not even Bitcoin.
