Colombian Pension Fund Plans Bitcoin Investment for Selected Clients

AFP Protección, Colombia’s second-largest private pension fund, is getting ready to launch an investment fund that includes Bitcoin (BTC). The company said the crypto option will only be available to selected clients, not everyone.

The move shows rising interest in alternative assets among institutions, while still keeping risk and rules in check.

A Controlled Entry Into Digital Assets

Juan David Correa, president of Protección SA, in a recent X post, confirmed that the planned fund will not be open to all clients. As announced, access will depend on a personalized advisory process that carefully evaluates each investor’s risk profile. 

Only clients who meet certain requirements will be allowed to invest a small part of their portfolio in Bitcoin. The focus of the product is portfolio diversification rather than speculative investing.

Protección has emphasized that the Bitcoin-linked fund does not change how most Colombian pension savings are managed. Fixed income, stocks, and other traditional assets will remain the main part of pension portfolios. 

The Bitcoin option is only an extra choice for qualified investors who want more variety in their investments.

Colombia’s Protección Pension Fund Moves Into Crypto Amid New Regulations

Founded in 1991, AFP Protección manages more than 220 trillion Colombian pesos, equivalent to about $55 billion, for over 8.5 million clients. These assets include required and optional pension plans, as well as severance savings accounts.

As of November 2025, Colombia’s mandatory pension funds held 527.3 trillion pesos, with almost half invested outside the country.

Protección’s latest move puts it alongside Skandia Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones y Cesantías. Skandia added Bitcoin exposure to one of its portfolios in September last year.

With this launch, Protección becomes the second major pension fund manager in Colombia to officially move into digital assets. This shows a slow but clear change in the country’s pension industry.

The timing also matches recent rule changes. Colombia’s tax authority, DIAN, has introduced required reporting for crypto service providers.

Crypto exchanges, custodians, and middlemen must now collect and share user and transaction data under rules based on global standards. 

The rules also allow data sharing with other countries and set strict compliance requirements, with penalties for anyone who breaks them.

Global Pension Funds Gradually Add Bitcoin Exposure

Several pension funds around the world have already added small and carefully managed exposure to Bitcoin. In the U.S., some public pension funds and retirement plans did this through regulated Bitcoin ETFs after they were approved in 2024.

That same year, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, said Bitcoin’s potential as “digital gold” could help protect against swings in traditional assets. He encouraged the agency managing the state’s retirement funds to look into Bitcoin investments.