Is crypto legal in Costa Rica?
Yes: no Costa Rican law bans holding or trading crypto. A new law makes service providers register with the supervisor SUGEF, but registration is not an authorisation to operate.
The central bank said in October 2017, as La República reported, that crypto is not prohibited but is not legal tender, and that people who use it do so at their own risk. We could not read the central bank’s own page, so that statement rests on the press report. The new law repeats the point: LexLatin quotes it as saying it does not make virtual assets legal tender or foreign currency.
That law is Law 10961, a reform of the anti-money-laundering Law 7786 that grew out of bill 25.340. The Assembly approved it in first debate in July 2025, and KPMG reports a unanimous second-debate vote on 25 May 2026. LexLatin gives 19 June 2026 as the date of publication and 19 September 2026 as the date it took effect. We did not read La Gaceta, so those two dates rest on LexLatin alone.
According to LexLatin, providers of virtual asset services must register with SUGEF, which keeps one registry, and the registration is for anti-money-laundering supervision only: it states that registering does not authorise a firm to operate. Banks and other financial entities may not deal with unregistered providers, and SUGEF is meant to stop unregistered providers from operating in Costa Rica whatever their home country. We found no count of registered firms and no register page: the SUGEF home page we loaded on 7 November 2026 has no section for these providers.
The detailed rules are still being written. Diario Extra reports that the financial council CONASSIF put a change to its rule Acuerdo SUGEF 13-19 out for public consultation, adding these providers to the firms that must report suspicious operations. The article gives no deadline for comments.
Which crypto exchanges work in Costa Rica?
All 14 exchanges we track serve Costa Ricans, 13 of them in full. Costa Rica licenses none of them: the new law creates a registry, not a licence, and we found no public list of who is on it.
Because registration is not a licence, the licence column other country guides carry has nothing to show here. Per LexLatin, the new law reaches providers abroad as well as at home, so the exchanges below are within its scope. We found no report of how SUGEF will treat them, and no statement from any of them about registering.
Best crypto platforms for Costa Ricans
Nine exchanges tie at 8 out of 10: Binance, Bitfinex, Bitget, Bybit, Gate, HTX, KuCoin, MEXC and OKX are open to Costa Ricans and loaded in our test. No platform earns licence points, because Costa Rica licenses none.
The score rates how fully a Costa Rican resident can use each platform, not its fees or safety. It is computed from our data and moves when a row changes: access status (4 points), the share of the platform’s products open here (3), the licences we hold on file for Costa Rica (2, so none can earn them) and what our geo-access test saw from a Costa Rican address (1). The full method is on our methodology page.
Exchanges
Binance
Best for The widest range of markets
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Binance reportPros
- Costa Rica is not on its prohibited-countries list
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- No Costa Rican licence exists to check it against
Bitfinex
Best for Spot and margin for experienced traders
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Bitfinex reportPros
- Costa Rica is not a prohibited jurisdiction in its terms
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- No Costa Rican licence exists to check it against
Bitget
Best for Spot and derivatives in one account
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Bitget reportPros
- Costa Rica is not on its prohibited-countries list
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- Its list of prohibited countries is non-exhaustive
Bybit
Best for Spot and derivatives in one account
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Bybit reportPros
- Costa Rica is not on its excluded-jurisdictions list
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- No Costa Rican licence exists to check it against
Gate
Best for A wide range of listed tokens
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Gate reportPros
- Costa Rica is not named in its restricted-locations clause
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- Its list is non-exhaustive
HTX
Best for Spot and derivatives in one account
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our HTX reportPros
- Costa Rica is not on the restricted lists in its user agreement
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- Its list is non-exclusive
KuCoin
Best for A wide range of listed tokens
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our KuCoin reportPros
- Costa Rica is not on its restricted-locations list (updated 29 October 2026)
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- Its list may be updated at its discretion
MEXC
Best for A wide range of listed tokens
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our MEXC reportPros
- Costa Rica is not on its prohibited-jurisdictions list
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- Its list is non-exclusive
OKX
Best for A global brand with a wide product range
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our OKX reportPros
- Costa Rica is not on its restricted-locations list
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- No Costa Rican licence exists to check it against
Bitstamp
Best for Plain spot trading
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Bitstamp reportPros
- No Bitstamp document excludes Costa Rica
Cons
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Coinbase
Best for A familiar US exchange for spot buying
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Coinbase reportPros
- Costa Rica is a listed sign-up country in its identity-verification guide
Cons
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Crypto.com
Best for Trading in an app
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Crypto.com reportPros
- Costa Rica is not on its app or spot geo-restriction lists
Cons
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Kraken
Best for Plain spot trading
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Kraken reportPros
- Costa Rica is not on its do-not-serve list
Cons
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Gemini
Best for Plain spot trading
5.9/10- Access
- 3.5/4
- Products
- 1.9/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Gemini reportPros
- Costa Rica is on its supported-country list for spot
Cons
- No derivatives: Costa Rica is not on its perpetuals list
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Prediction markets
Kalshi
Best for Regulated event contracts
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Kalshi reportPros
- Costa Rica is not on its restricted-jurisdictions list
Cons
- No Costa Rican rule names prediction markets
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Polymarket
Best for The largest prediction market
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Polymarket reportPros
- Costa Rica is not on its blocked-countries list
Cons
- No Costa Rican rule names prediction markets
- Not covered by our geo-access test
DeFi
Aster
Best for Perpetuals from your own wallet
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Aster reportPros
- Costa Rica is not on its prohibited-jurisdictions list
- Its trading app loaded in our test
Cons
- No funding in dollars: you need crypto from another source
Hyperliquid
Best for Perpetuals and spot on its own chain
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Hyperliquid reportPros
- Not excluded by its terms
- Its trading app loaded in our test
Cons
- No funding in dollars: you need crypto from another source
Lighter
Best for Perpetuals from your own wallet
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Lighter reportPros
- Costa Rica is not named in its terms
- Its trading app loaded in our test
Cons
- No funding in dollars: you need crypto from another source
Jupiter
Best for Solana swaps
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Jupiter reportPros
- Costa Rica is not named in its terms
Cons
- No funding in dollars: you need crypto from another source
- Not covered by our geo-access test
PancakeSwap
Best for BNB Chain swaps and pools
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our PancakeSwap reportPros
- Not excluded by its terms
Cons
- No funding in dollars: you need crypto from another source
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Uniswap
Best for Swapping tokens from your own wallet
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Uniswap reportPros
- Its terms bar only places under comprehensive US sanctions
Cons
- No funding in dollars: you need crypto from another source
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Which platforms block Costa Rican users?
None of the 22 platforms we track refuses Costa Ricans. One, Gemini, is limited: it serves Costa Rica for spot trading but offers no perpetuals.
No Costa Rican law gives a platform a reason to close the country, since individuals may hold and trade crypto. Several exclusion lists are non-exhaustive, so an absence is not a guarantee, and most platforms enforce at identity verification, not at the page. For six platforms (Binance, Bitstamp, Hyperliquid, Kalshi, Polymarket and Uniswap) the list or terms page could not be re-read on 7 November 2026, so those rows rest on our last reading, dated in the row.
What our geo-access test saw from Costa Rica
From a Costa Rican virtual location on 14 and 16 October 2026, all 12 platforms we tested loaded with no barrier; the other 10 were not tested.
The 12 that opened were Aster, Binance, Bitfinex, Bitget, Bybit, Gate, HTX, Hyperliquid, KuCoin, Lighter, MEXC and OKX. A virtual location, an address registered to the country but served elsewhere, tests a platform’s own geo-blocking only, and an open page is not permission: the test cannot see identity checks or blocks by internet providers. We hold no screenshots from Costa Rica, so there is no gallery.
Who regulates crypto in Costa Rica?
SUGEF registers and supervises crypto providers for anti-money-laundering duties, and CONASSIF writes the rules. The central bank says crypto is not legal tender, and the tax authority treats it as an asset.
- SUGEF. The Superintendencia General de Entidades Financieras keeps the registry of virtual asset service providers under Law 10961, per KPMG and LexLatin. Its own site has no page on the registry yet.
- CONASSIF. The Consejo Nacional de Supervisión del Sistema Financiero writes the implementing rules; its proposed change to Acuerdo SUGEF 13-19 was in consultation in October and November 2026.
- BCCR. The Banco Central de Costa Rica holds that crypto is not legal tender. We could not reach its site, so we rely on the 2017 press report.
- JPS. The Junta de Protección Social runs the national lotteries. It is covered in the prediction markets section.
- Hacienda. The Ministry’s tax directorate, the DGT, is covered in the tax section.
- Securities. We found no crypto-specific rule from the securities supervisor SUGEVAL.
Are prediction markets legal in Costa Rica?
No Costa Rican rule names them. We found no online-betting licence system, and bills to regulate illegal betting are still in the Assembly.
Teletica ran a report on 22 May 2026 headed “Bill proposes geoblocking of illegal betting platforms”; we could read only the headline. Delfino.cr carried a November 2025 report that the JPS asked the Assembly to prioritise a bill penalising the illegal operation of lotteries, games of chance and betting; we read the headline and address only. We found no statement or block order about Polymarket or Kalshi.
Whether an event contract on an election or a price counts as a bet under any future wording is our reading, not a ruling: no regulator statement or court decision we found says so. Polymarket and Kalshi are open to Costa Ricans on their own lists, and we found no action against either.
How is crypto taxed in Costa Rica?
Costa Rica taxes only income produced inside the country, and gains from selling assets are taxed at a flat rate. We found no Hacienda page on crypto itself, so the treatment below leans on one tax opinion reported by EY.
Hacienda’s tax directorate slides of 3 November 2023 state that income generated outside the territory is not subject to the tax, and its rate table for Law 9635 sets a flat 15% on capital gains; the table is undated. Per the same table, assets acquired before 1 July 2019 may be taxed at 2.25% of the sale price on a first sale. The slides give the first 15 calendar days of the following month as the payment deadline and let a loss offset gains of the previous 12 months. Both documents were read in our research on 7 November 2026.
On crypto itself, EY reported on 7 September 2023 that the DGT’s opinion MH-DGT-OF-0460-2023 treats crypto as an intangible virtual asset: an investor’s gains fall under the capital gains regime, business activity under the income tax on lucrative activity, and services such as custody, transfer and exchange are subject to the value-added tax. We did not read the opinion, and opinions of this kind are informative only, not binding rulings.
Self-employed individuals pay income tax on annual bands for 2026 that EY reports from decree 45333-H: 0% up to ₡6,244,000, then 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% above ₡20,872,000. We did not read the decree or Hacienda’s own table.
On reporting, Delfino.cr reported on 5 February 2025 that the Executive filed bill 24.811, under which crypto providers would report user data to Hacienda under the OECD framework, with Costa Rica committing to implement it before 2028. We found no report of the bill passing.
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