The Central Bank of the Philippines issued a warning to the populace, advising them against conducting any business with unregistered or foreign crypto exchanges.
Although the announcement itself doesn’t sound ominous, when considered in the context of related occurrences, it turns In the Philippines, pressure on cryptocurrencies is rapidly increasing. a country of 112 million people into a volatile area for cryptocurrency.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) issued a warning to the nation’s people on August 17 in which it “strongly urges” them not to conduct business with Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) that are either unregistered or based outside.
The Bank noted that dealing with virtual assets is already a high-risk activity, and that when dealing with international platforms, implementing legal redress and consumer protection becomes even more difficult. There are now 19 registered VASPs available for the general public to use.
Due to a BSP directive that stopped the issuance of new VASP licenses as of September 1, the list won’t likely grow over the course of the next three years. The BSP recognizes the delicate balance between encouraging financial innovation and risk management in this way.
The topic’s most intriguing aspect may have to do with Binance, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, which is attempting to secure the national license and, if the BSP memorandum is to be believed, has fewer than two weeks to accomplish it.
However, the Philippines doesn’t see itself as being overly restrictive or protective of the cryptocurrency sector. The BSP stated that it sees “a lot of benefits linked with cryptocurrency and blockchain” in a written statement provided to Cointelegraph on August 15.
It is anxious to advance crypto education. The BSP specifically stated that it will refrain from placing “any meaningful limits on crypto investments or trading at this point.” “Risk-based and appropriate regulations” are the goal of the regulator.
However, the nation continues to be a speculatively appealing location for cryptocurrency. Over 11.6 million Filipinos possess digital assets, placing the country 10th in the world in terms of adoption, and it is one of the economies with the fastest growth rates in the world.
