How does the MONEX market work?
Learn about the professional foreign exchange market in Costa Rica, how authorized institutions trade USD/CRC, and what the weighted average means.
What is MONEX?
MONEX (Mercado de Monedas Extranjeras — Foreign Exchange Market) is the professional foreign exchange market in Costa Rica where exchange-rate transactions are carried out by authorized financial institutions. Only entities licensed by the BCCR — commercial banks, cooperatives, and exchange houses — can participate.
Unlike the retail "ventanilla" market where you exchange currency at a branch or app, MONEX is where these institutions trade large volumes of USD/CRC among themselves.
How the weighted average works
The MONEX weighted average is the most important reference price for the USD/CRC exchange rate. It is calculated by weighting each transaction by its volume:
Weighted Avg = Sum(price x volume) / Sum(volume)
This means a $10 million trade at 510.50 has more influence on the average than a $100,000 trade at 511.00. The weighted average is more representative of the "true" market price than a simple average.
Max and min: the trading range
The daily maximum and minimum show the full range at which USD were traded. A wide spread between max and min indicates higher volatility — participants disagree more on fair value. A tight spread signals consensus.
Why it matters for consumers
Even though consumers trade at ventanilla rates (which include a bank's spread), MONEX sets the base price. When the MONEX weighted average moves up, ventanilla buy and sell rates follow within hours.
Trading hours and settlement
MONEX operates on business days during defined hours set by the BCCR. All trades settle T+0 (same day), which means the price you see reflects actual same-day delivery of dollars, not future promises.