Philippines | Crypto

The latest stablecoin move comes years after Meta first dipped its toes into stablecoins through Libra in 2019, before scrapping the plans in 2022 due to regulatory pushback. US tech giant Meta has launched USDC payouts for creators on its platforms in the Philippines and Colombia, with plans to expand to additional markets.  Creators who opt into the service will receive payments directly into crypto wallets on the Solana and Polygon blockchains. However, Meta does not offer a built-in conversion option, so an external exchange is required to convert USDC into fiat currency, according to the announcement on Wednesday.  The service is currently available only to select creators in Colombia and the Philippines, but Polygon said Wednesday that the stablecoin rollout is expected to expand to more jurisdictions soon. Read more

Promoters of flagged platforms may face fines of up to 5 million Philippine pesos ($89,000) or up to 21 years in prison under Philippine securities law. The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a public investor alert warning Filipinos not to invest in dYdX and six other crypto trading platforms, saying they are not registered or authorized to solicit investments in the country. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the SEC named dYdX, Aevo, gTrade, Pacifica, Orderly, Deriv and Ostium, stating that based on its findings, the platforms appear to be offering investments to the public in exchange for promised returns, profits or interest.  The regulator said none of the listed entities are registered with the Commission or hold the required authorization under its crypto-asset service provider (CASP) framework, which requires firms offering crypto-related services in the Philippines to obtain licenses and meet capital and operational requirements. Read more

Telegram has narrowly escaped a full scale ban in the Philippines, and the yen carry trade now comes in token form. Asia Express s

Telegram has narrowly escaped a full scale ban in the Philippines, and the yen carry trade now comes in token form. Asia Express s

Philippine regulators are tightening control over crypto access, signaling that global exchanges must secure local licenses to operate. Internet service providers (ISPs) in the Philippines began blocking major crypto trading platforms as regulators moved to enforce local licensing rules on crypto service providers.  Users reported that as of Tuesday, access to global cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Gemini was unavailable in the Philippines. Cointelegraph independently confirmed that both platforms were inaccessible across multiple local ISPs.  A report by the Manila Bulletin said the ISP blocks followed an order from the National Telecommunications Commission, which directed providers to restrict access to 50 online trading platforms flagged by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank, as operating without authorization. Read more

Crypto influencers charged for shilling “Hong Kong’s FTX.” Philippines senate considers putting government budget on blockchain. Asia Express. Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday formally charged influencers linked to the defunct crypto exchange JPEX. Among those charged are Joseph Lam Chok, a lawyer-turned-influencer, and Chan Yee, a prominent key opinion leader (KOI) in the cryptocurrency community. Prosecutors say they promoted JPEX while either knowing or ignoring that the platform had no approval to operate in Hong Kong. Under Hong Kongs Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance, it is an offense to fraudulently or recklessly induce others to invest in crypto. Six core members of the alleged JPEX group and seven operators of over-the-counter crypto shops were also charged, along with three individuals accused of serving as front account holders. Read more

Crypto influencers charged for shilling “Hong Kong’s FTX.” Philippines senate considers putting government budget on blockchain. Asia Express. Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday formally charged influencers linked to the defunct crypto exchange JPEX. Among those charged are Joseph Lam Chok, a lawyer-turned-influencer, and Chan Yee, a prominent key opinion leader (KOI) in the cryptocurrency community. Prosecutors say they promoted JPEX while either knowing or ignoring that the platform had no approval to operate in Hong Kong. Under Hong Kongs Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance, it is an offense to fraudulently or recklessly induce others to invest in crypto. Six core members of the alleged JPEX group and seven operators of over-the-counter crypto shops were also charged, along with three individuals accused of serving as front account holders. Read more

Crypto influencers charged for shilling “Hong Kong’s FTX.” Philippines senate considers putting government budget on blockchain. Asia Express. Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday formally charged influencers linked to the defunct crypto exchange JPEX. Among those charged are Joseph Lam Chok, a lawyer-turned-influencer, and Chan Yee, a prominent key opinion leader (KOI) in the cryptocurrency community. Prosecutors say they promoted JPEX while either knowing or ignoring that the platform had no approval to operate in Hong Kong. Under Hong Kongs Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance, it is an offense to fraudulently or recklessly induce others to invest in crypto. Six core members of the alleged JPEX group and seven operators of over-the-counter crypto shops were also charged, along with three individuals accused of serving as front account holders. Read more

Crypto influencers charged for shilling “Hong Kong’s FTX.” Philippines senate considers putting government budget on blockchain. Asia Express. Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday formally charged influencers linked to the defunct crypto exchange JPEX. Among those charged are Joseph Lam Chok, a lawyer-turned-influencer, and Chan Yee, a prominent key opinion leader (KOI) in the cryptocurrency community. Prosecutors say they promoted JPEX while either knowing or ignoring that the platform had no approval to operate in Hong Kong. Under Hong Kongs Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance, it is an offense to fraudulently or recklessly induce others to invest in crypto. Six core members of the alleged JPEX group and seven operators of over-the-counter crypto shops were also charged, along with three individuals accused of serving as front account holders. Read more

Crypto influencers charged for shilling “Hong Kong’s FTX.” Philippines senate considers putting government budget on blockchain. Asia Express. Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday formally charged influencers linked to the defunct crypto exchange JPEX. Among those charged are Joseph Lam Chok, a lawyer-turned-influencer, and Chan Yee, a prominent key opinion leader (KOI) in the cryptocurrency community. Prosecutors say they promoted JPEX while either knowing or ignoring that the platform had no approval to operate in Hong Kong. Under Hong Kongs Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance, it is an offense to fraudulently or recklessly induce others to invest in crypto. Six core members of the alleged JPEX group and seven operators of over-the-counter crypto shops were also charged, along with three individuals accused of serving as front account holders. Read more

Crypto influencers charged for shilling “Hong Kong’s FTX.” Philippines senate considers putting government budget on blockchain. Asia Express. Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday formally charged influencers linked to the defunct crypto exchange JPEX. Among those charged are Joseph Lam Chok, a lawyer-turned-influencer, and Chan Yee, a prominent key opinion leader (KOI) in the cryptocurrency community. Prosecutors say they promoted JPEX while either knowing or ignoring that the platform had no approval to operate in Hong Kong. Under Hong Kongs Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance, it is an offense to fraudulently or recklessly induce others to invest in crypto. Six core members of the alleged JPEX group and seven operators of over-the-counter crypto shops were also charged, along with three individuals accused of serving as front account holders. Read more

While crypto focuses on US and EU markets, real adoption is happening in Argentina, Nigeria and the Philippines, where digital assets solve survival needs. Opinion by: Maksym Sakharov, group CEO at WeFi The crypto industry has been focused on the same markets: the United States and the European Union. The conversation has mainly concerned regulatory clarity, speculative gains and institutional access, whether Silicon Valley’s venture capital firms or Wall Street’s exchange-traded fund issuers.  Unfortunately, this fixation is blinding much of the industry to a more pressing reality, where the future of crypto adoption isn’t in New York, London or Brussels, but rather in Lagos, Buenos Aires and Manila. Read more

Bitcoin holds $116K as Powell’s rate cut signal, Philippines’ 10K BTC reserve plan, and Taiwan’s crackdown fuel optimism for a breakout toward $130K. The post Bitcoin Price Prediction: Powell’s Cut Signal, Philippines’ 10K BTC Plan, Taiwan Crackdown Drive Path to $130K appeared first on Cryptonews.

A Philippine lawmaker has introduced a measure that would require the central bank to build a strategic Bitcoin reserve, marking one of the most ambitious crypto policy proposals in Southeast Asia. Representative Migz Villafuerte filed the “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act” in June, calling for the country’s central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), to purchase […] The post Philippines lawmaker introduces legislation to acquire 10,000 Bitcoin for national security reserve appeared first on CryptoSlate.

ISPs in the Philippines have blocked access to exchanges including OKX, Bybit and Bitget; Singapore exchange sued by investors: Asia Express. Members of the crypto community in the Philippines say local internet service providers have begun blocking access to several unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges. The move follows a warning issued Monday by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which flagged 10 exchanges, including OKX, Bybit, and Bitget, for operating without a license. Several users report they can no longer access these exchanges’ websites, though mobile apps remain functional for now. However, previous enforcement history suggests that app access may also be restricted soon. Read more

The Philippine government has officially launched a blockchain-based system to verify government documents on the Polygon network as part of a broader initiative to modernize public services and improve trust in state-issued records, local media reported on July 31. The new platform, introduced on July 30 by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), allows […] The post Philippines turns to Polygon to secure government records on blockchain appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The Philippine government launched a blockchain-based document validation system on Polygon, despite the network suffering a partial outage on the same day. The government of the Philippines announced that it will notarize its documents on the Polygon blockchain — on the same day that the network’s Heimdall v2 mainnet suffered a temporary outage. Maria Francesca Montes Del Rosario, undersecretary at the Philippine Department of Budget and Management, announced in a Wednesday Facebook post that the government’s blockchain transparency was live. According to a Thursday report by local crypto news outlet BitPinas, Del Rosario said at the launch event that blockchain addresses the issue presented by artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes and prevents bad actors from falsifying government documents. Read more

A YouTuber exposed an $800,000 crypto scam in Cebu by hacking CCTV, confronting scammers live and revealing their global fraud operation. In Cebu, Philippines, a scam call center ran a sophisticated $800,000 crypto fraud from the second floor of the Skyrise building in Cebu IT Park, using fake investment products like Quantum AI and Bitcoin Code.  Leveraging the Philippines’ low labor costs and strong English skills, the fraudulent investment group operated to scam unsuspecting victims in South Africa, Nigeria and the Gulf countries, promising high returns to lure deposits. Earlier, it used to target people in Canada, the UK and European countries. The scamsters have been operating under different names, such as BMJ Data Processing Services, Virtual Wealth Exchange, Solless Markets, BTC Boutique and more. Read more

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Funnull Technology Inc., a Philippines-based tech firm accused of facilitating hundreds of thousands of online crypto investment scams known as “pig butchering,” which defrauded American victims of over $200 million. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also designated Liu Lizhi, a Chinese national and administrator of Funnull, […] The post US Treasury sanctions Philippines tech firm over aiding $200 million pig butchering spree appeared first on CryptoSlate.