State-owned Banco Nacional (BN), the largest commercial bank in Costa Rica and one of the largest in Central America with over $ 7 billion in assets, launching a spot of Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund through its investment management arm, BN Fondos, according to local reports .

This marks the first time that Costa Ricans has access to any kind of cryptoin -investing product through the country’s banking system.

The company also launches an S&P 500 ETF with the Bitcoin vehicle. The minimum investment amount for each fund is $ 100. Investments will be taken in US dollars instead of Costa Rica Colones.

“[Costa Rican] Regulation does not allow investments in things that are not investment vehicles, and Bitcoin is not considered an investment vehicle from a legislative perspective, but Etf is, ”said Pablo Montes de Oca, general manager at BN Fondos.

Banco Nacional serves over 2.1 million customers in Costa Rica – more than 40% of the country’s population.

Costa Rica has no formal crypto laws, but in accordance with the country’s constitution and civil code in terms of private parties, any activity that is not explicitly prohibited by the law is allowed. Costa Ricans is therefore technically allowed to act and own cryptocurrencies based on the fact that no law prohibits it.

A comprehensive crypto regulation bill called Crypto Asset Market Law was introduced to the legislative assembly in 2022, but it became firm at the commission level. The Bill aimed to codify the use of Cryptocurrencies for payment of goods and services in Costa Rica, but without doing any of them – not even Bitcoin – legal tender.