Philippines’ premier digital asset exchange, Coins.ph, reportedly confronts enforcement measures from the nation’s monetary authority
— Alleged violations tied to servicing offshore betting platforms could result in license revocation, per an informed source
— Earlier this month, the Philippine central bank placed limitations on deposits via Coins.ph’s primary wallet operator, DCPay Philippines, according to insiders
— Multiple senior compliance executives departed this year, notably Chief Compliance Officer Lexi Herrera, AML monitoring head Chris Beaño, and money laundering reporting officer Irish Calagui
Coins.ph, the country’s dominant cryptocurrency trading venue with over 18 million users, faces disciplinary action from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) regulators, two knowledgeable individuals disclosed.
The alleged misconduct involving offshore gambling operators is severe enough that the 12-year-old firm could lose its operating license—a development one source described as triggering «an earthquake» across the Philippine crypto landscape.
The platform processes approximately $50 million in daily spot trading volume and commands 75%-80% of peso-to-stablecoin liquidity in the Philippines, a critical channel for the world’s fourth-largest remittance recipient.
Over 10.8 million Filipinos reside abroad, per the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, with most utilizing traditional banking and remittance services to send home roughly $43 billion annually.
Early this month, BSP reportedly restricted deposits to the exchange through its main wallet subsidiary, DCPay Philippines.
These constraints follow the exit of key compliance personnel, including Herrera, Beaño, and Calagui.
Neither Coins.ph nor the Philippine central bank provided comments by publication deadline.
Just over a year ago, the central bank cracked down on e-wallet apps facilitating gambling, ordering supervised institutions to remove in-app gambling access.
Consequently, multiple gambling operators shifted to Coins.ph, sources said, gaining added access to crypto and stablecoins for settling offshore transactions, according to a third individual versed in BSP regulatory procedures.
Unlike typical temporary suspensions for technical non-compliance, the recent Coins.ph restriction lacks a defined duration and no explanation was offered, one source noted.
Coins.ph emerged as an early Philippine crypto wallet and exchange before expanding into wider financial services.
Indonesian tech giant Gojek acquired Coins.ph for $95 million in January 2019; the platform was subsequently sold to Wei Zhou, former Binance CFO.
Diversified RWA stablecoins sustain 5-7% yield from real credit as crypto funding compresses to ~4%. GENIUS pushes yield off-chain; TAM grows to $4B in 3 years.
Why it matters:
Diversified RWA stablecoins sustain 5-7% yield from real credit as crypto funding compresses to ~4%. GENIUS pushes yield off-chain; TAM grows to $4B in 3 years.
