In brief
- The BSP has ordered all Virtual Asset Service Providers to build “a robust due diligence and accreditation process” before listing or trading any virtual asset on their platforms.
- The guidelines prohibit “anonymity-enhancing VAs, otherwise known as privacy VAs,” removing assets like Monero and Zcash from compliant local exchanges.
- The move extends a year of tightening Philippine crypto rules that began with the SEC’s licensing framework and offshore exchange blocks.
The Philippines is tightening its grip on crypto markets once again.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued new coin and token listing guidelines requiring all licensed Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) to implement rigorous due diligence and accreditation processes before offering digital assets to customers.
In a memorandum signed by Deputy Governor Lyn Javier, the BSP said the rules are aimed at “promoting financial stability and protecting the financial welfare of customers by ensuring that VA services are provided in a safe, sound, and consumer-centric manner.”
The central bank also banned anonymity-enhancing cryptos, commonly referred to as privacy coins, from being listed or supported by VASPs.
The latest memorandum requires exchanges to conduct ongoing monitoring of listed assets and establish thresholds that could trigger suspensions or delistings.
“This is long overdue, and I think this is the right call. I don’t think this is bureaucratic red tape; this is the minimum bar any responsible platform should already be applying before listing an asset to retail users,” Alden Yburan, head of crypto at GCash, told Decrypt. “Stronger listing standards would lead to better products.”
He was more conflicted on the privacy ban, noting that assets like Monero and Zcash “exist for legitimate reasons” because privacy is “a foundational value in crypto, the ability to transact without surveillance.”
“On the other hand, PH is remittance-heavy, we can’t be positioning the ecosystem as a trusted financial infra while simultaneously allowing anonymity-enhancing assets to flow freely,” he added.
VASPs must also monitor listed assets on an ongoing basis and define thresholds that trigger delisting, such as covering loss of liquidity, insolvency of the issuer, involvement in a scandal or scam, de-pegging, material security breaches, or misleading disclosures.
The memo notes that platforms may have to answer to securities regulators in parallel, requiring compliance with “the SEC’s CASP Rules and Guidance” should a token be offered as a security.
The Philippines ranks ninth worldwide on Chainalysis’s 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, part of an APAC bloc that grew 69% year-over-year to lead grassroots adoption.
Two regulators, two frameworks
The listing rules slot into a system where crypto firms answer to two separate authorities.
The SEC governs crypto-asset service providers on the securities side; the BSP licenses VASPs for payment and transaction rails. Firms must satisfy both independently.
Last June, the SEC enacted Memorandum Circular No. 5, forcing crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) to register locally, hold $1.8 million(₱100 million) in paid-up capital, store customer data within the country, and report to both the SEC and the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
By August, the commission had cut off access to 10 offshore platforms, including OKX, Bybit, Kraken, and KuCoin.
Luis Buenaventura, President at the Blockchain Council of the Philippines, previously told Decrypt the SEC’s rules created “a competitive advantage for licensed players,” and maintained the broader crackdown will gradually move users toward compliant services.
Lawmakers have pushed on a separate track, weighing Senate Bill 1330, which would place the national budget on-chain following mass protests over roughly $9.2 billion in flagged public works spending.
Binance back at the door
Global crypto exchange Binance is attempting to return to the Philippines through local partner BlockShoals Technologies Inc., which received initial SEC clearance in November under the StratBox regulatory sandbox, according to a report in local media outlet BitPinas.
But the BSP has stated that neither Binance nor BlockShoals holds a VASP license, and that sandbox participation “doesn’t substitute for central bank licensing.”
The SEC has since narrowed its own language, reclassifying Binance as a “global crypto-asset service provider” rather than a global VASP, and now requires BlockShoals to integrate with a licensed domestic VASP within 90 days before onboarding any users through Binance infrastructure.
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