Two New Cryptocurrency Exchanges Accredited in the Philippines; Total Grows to F ...

On Friday Business World reported, citing a senior official’s statement, that the central bank of the Philippines, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), had accepted two new cryptocurrency exchanges.

BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier in the interview with the news outlet told that applications submitted by Virtual Currency Philippines and ETranss had been approved. Now the platforms are allowed to convert Philippine pesos into cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). The two exchanges join previously accredited peers Rebittance, Betur (also known as Coins.ph) and BloomSolutions.

Friendly but cautious stance

The Philippines is progressively turning into a crypto-friendly region. Last year, the BSP officially recognized Bitcoin as a legitimate payment method. In February the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) – the government entity that runs the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport in the north-east of the Philippines – developed new regulations enabling cryptocurrency companies to establish offices and facilities in the region.
According to these new regulations, such companies ought to invest at least $1 million over a period of two years and pay up to $100,000 in license fees.

In April, the CEZA announced that it would authorize 10 companies working in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space to establish offices in the Cagayan Economic Zone.

It is worth noting that the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated last year it was considering legalizing the use of digital currencies in the country by categorizing them as securities. However, this plan has not been developed since.

The Philippine government had also considered if the new exchanges should register as e-money issuers, since they offer wallet services.

In spite of the generally friendly attitude towards cryptocurrencies, the Philippine authorities remains cautious of the potential risks of crypto volatility, criminal involvement and cybersecurity.
The country’s Anti-Money Laundering Council will reportedly begin closely observing digital currency transactions as part of their broader effort to crack down on dirty money. Companies will be obliged to report secured transaction as well as any suspicious ones.

Crypto transactions on the rise

Crypto transactions have risen in the Philippines. Last month, Fonacier revealed that conversion cryptocurrencies into the local currency was $36.74 million on average each month in the first quarter of this year.

This figure dropped by $1,53 million in the last three months of 2017 when Bitcoin price reached the $20000 price.
Anyway, the amount has sharply risen from the estimated average monthly cryptocurrency transactions to approximately $8.8 million between January and June last year. The figure is expected to grow with more exchanges operating in the country.