How to Buy Cryptocurrency in Costa Rica
Buying cryptocurrency in Costa Rica
Inspired by the Venezuelan Petro, Costa Rican entrepreneurs attempted to develop Costa Rica's very own cryptocurrency and succeeded. CRCoin was launched into the world with 40 businesses prepared to accept it as a valid payment. Cryptocurrencies aren't prohibited in Costa Rica. In fact, they are recognized as a legitimate payment method. What's even more interesting is the fact that people are even entitled to get a portion of their wages in cryptocurrencies, highlighting the country's willingness to invest in developing blockchain technology which could encourage greater acceptance of cryptocurrencies in the long run. Unfortunately, other factors also come into play. Cryptos aren't recognized as an official currency by the Central Bank and the fiscal regulations of cryptos fall into a grey area. Despite this, the country's rising interest in blockchain and its untapped potential for storing renewable resources to sustain crypto mining could lead to better adoption of digital assets long term.
As of 20/03/2021
Exchanges Info
These exchanges all accept customers from Costa Rica. While they broadly offer the same services and you can buy cryptocurrency at all of them, there can be differences in transaction fees, security, verification requirements, deposit methods and features, as shown below
eToro
An Israeli fintech startup well known as a social trading broker, eToro has now over 10 million users worldwide. If you want to trade CFDs of most popular stocks, gold, shares or commodities as well as some crypto eToro is an interesting choice.
Fully regulated financial institution
- Free stock and ETF trading
- Ability to follow expert traders
Fees (spreads) are high
- Only USD as base currency
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Coins
Security
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Bitfinex
Operating since 2012, Bitfinex has a huge range of coins and trading pairs, a good user interface and low trading fees.
- Very low trading fees
- Large range of coins and trading pairs
- High liquidity
- Slow account verification
- Two major hacks
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Changelly
Changelly allows you to trade cryptocurrency without registration or verifying the identity through KYC. Being a non-custodial exchange, Changelly doesn’t require you to keep any deposits. The platform also works as a fiat-to-crypto gateway.
- Non-custodial exchange
- Great way to switch altcoins
- Doesn’t require extensive KYC
- 2FA security and high exchange limit
- A high transaction fee of 0.5%
- Unclear owners
- Sometimes their service is quite slow
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Poloniex
Poloniex is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange that started its journey back in January 2014. The platform offers margin trading, spot trading and margin lending
- No verification required
- Low fees
- Margin trading and lending options
- Not regulated
- No Fiat deposits
- No US users
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Kucoin
Founded in 2017, KuCoin has already managed to establish itself as “The People’s Exchange.” With 200+ cryptocurrencies and more than 400 markets, it has become one of the hubs for cryptocurrency trading.
- Vast selection of altcoins
- Ability to stake & earn crypto yields
- Robust security features
- No forced KYC checks
- No fiat currency deposits
- Trading volume is low
Coinmama
Coinmama was formed in Slovakia in 2013. As a user, you are not allowed to exchange cryptocurrencies with other users on this platform. Instead, you will be trading cryptocurrencies with Coinmama directly which makes your transactions more secure.
- Receive coins to your wallet instantly.
- High limits for buying bitcoin
- Faster customer service
- High levels of security
- No option for trading with other users
- Higher fees
- No mobile app
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Bittrex
Bittrex is a veteran US-based cryptocurrency exchange launched in 2013. Its has Worldwide availability, comprehensive mobile app, high liquidity and low fees.
- Strong security features
- Faster transaction & withdrawals
- Compliant with US laws
- Inexpensive bank card deposits
- No leveraged margin trading
- Intrusive verification process
- Unexplained closure of account