2024 Recap: The Biggest News in the #CryptoPH Industry

Editor’s Notes: This is by no means an exhaustive list:

2024 has been a good year for the cryptocurrency industry.

We started it with different projects hosting airdrops with a new twist—gamified. Participants need to do tasks and interact with the project’s platform to earn “crypto points,” which will be convertible to rewards, most specifically native tokens.
The top two cryptocurrencies in terms of market cap, $BTC and $ETH, are now open for spot ETF spot trading. While a $SOL ETF has been filed.
The U.S. SEC, under the leadership of Gary Gensler, continued to charge U.S.-based crypto firms and tag tokens as securities.
Telegram has a mini-apps ecosystem, allowing games and bots in the messaging app without needing to install other applications. This gave birth to tap-to-earn games that attracted millions of players with airdrops.
Crypto-friendly Donald Trump was elected U.S. president. Though he is yet to assume office in 2025, token prices have already surged and $BTC has recorded multiple all-time highs.

Pero kamusta sa Pilipinas?

Here is the 2024 report on the top news and happenings in #CryptoPH:

Regulation

Late last year, the PH Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released an advisory against Binance for operating in the country without proper licenses.

And yes, Binance’s faith in the hands of the Philippines SEC did not end there.

The advisory warned Binance that the crypto exchange only has three months, or until February 29, 2024, to end its operations in the country. But the regulator said that it was still evaluating its options at the time.
It was not until ‌March, that the National Telecommunications Commission gave Internet service providers (ISPs) until March 30 to block access to the Binance website.
A week after, Atty. Paolo Ong, the officer-in-charge of the SEC Philifintech Innovation Office, said in an interview that the regulator was already working on blocking the Binance app, emphasizing that the SEC had reached out to the platform but ultimately felt that Binance did not make any effort to get a license or engage in dialogue with them.
As of this writing, the Binance app is still accessible but the website is not and can only be accessed through a VPN. Even Binance’s Telegram game Moonbix cannot be played by Filipinos unless using a VPN.

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SEC continued to issue advisories vs unlicensed crypto exchanges in the country, including MiTrade, OctaFX, XM, eToro, and SparkFX Bitcore.

Then in October, Infrawatch PH, a public policy group, called on the SEC to take swift action against unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges Bitget and OKX, alleging they operate illegally in the Philippines.
Consequently, the SEC issued a cease and desist order against Crypto Marketers and warnings against platforms offering cryptocurrency trading and investments—Modesto Cardano Market Cap. Tr3ding Services OPC, Glass Coin, and Pionex Club.

On the other hand, another crypto regulator in the country, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), was also active in the #CryptoPH.

Just within this year, the central bank revoked three Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licenses. They are Appsolutely, Atomtrans Tech, and i-Remit.
But the good thing is, it granted a VASP license to GoTyme, a licensed digital bank.
The VASP license enables companies to offer digital assets, including cryptocurrency trading. As of this writing, the VASP application is still closed and only those with other BSP-issued licenses can apply.

Meanwhile, in terms of having crypto-focused laws in the Philippines. There is still none.

However, Department of Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said that his agency should connect with the SEC to draft crypto guidelines.
Recto also vowed that there would be no new taxes under his term. This assures crypto traders that the Philippines would not charge taxes on crypto profits—a hot conversation in #CryptoPH.
The Philippine National Police also called for stronger cryptocurrency regulations after a joint raid by the National Capital Region Police Office, the SEC, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation resulted in the arrest of 116 employees at a suspected crypto scam hub in Ermita, Manila.

Use Cases

In this category, BitPinas has listed different companies and government agencies that utilized blockchain technology for their initiatives and new projects.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) launched the “INVISIBLE Government” with an aim to enhance its cybersecurity measures and digital.

During the “Build with Prismo: Web3 Architecture Workshop,” Bayanichain CEO Paul Soliman discussed how Prismo, a public-private blockchain that is designed to transform digital transactions with a focus on transparency, integrity, and trust, as a functioning minimum viable product already implemented within the DBM system.
Prismo has been chosen as one of the eight projects in the first cohort of Quadratic Accelerator.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) introduced in June “eGOVchain,” a government blockchain to protect data from internal and external attacks.

However, USEC Almirol clarified that eGOVchain aims to secure and make government transactions transparent with at least three nodes, starting with one government-owned node and others managed by private sector entities.
He made this statement after #CryptoPH members challenged how a centralized government will have a decentralized blockchain.
During the agency’s National ICT Summit, Almirol also explained that the eGOVchain initiative aims to create a more efficient, transparent, and paperless system to streamline government processes.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) completed in early December the testing for Project Agila, a proof-of-concept wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiative aimed at enabling financial institutions to conduct fund transfers outside of regular banking hours.

However, Governor Eli Remolona Jr. stated that they are planning to introduce a non-blockchain CBDC probably in 2025 to compete with volatile cryptocurrencies.

UnionBank’s UBX, the digital arm of the Aboitiz Group, revealed in March its plans to create a peso-based stablecoin on Polygon PoS to optimize payments, specifically remittances, within the Philippines.

In November, UBX then inked an alliance with JUST Finance, an international firm that offers bank-grade blockchain and asset tokenization solutions, to form a Multi-Currency Stablecoin Exchange that will offer easier and cheaper cross-border payments and foreign exchange transactions using stablecoins.
As of this writing, there is still no update on UBX’s plans to launch its own stablecoin.

Crypto exchange Coins.ph launched the first peso stablecoin to be available to retail, $PHPC, in June 2024 after receiving approval from the Central Bank of the Philippines to issue a Philippine peso-pegged stablecoin.

Coins.ph also partnered with Fasset to launch “Pinoy Send,” which will enable Filipino expatriates in the UAE to send up to ₱50,000 to the Philippines within seconds.

The Retail Treasury Bonds industry in the country has reached a milestone of $10 billion according to a Bloomberg report.

This includes the number of volumes traded from the Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX)’s tokenized bonds they launched in November 2023 with the Philippine Bureau of Treasury.

Local Exchanges

In this category, we explore the initiatives of local crypto exchanges and VASPs to promote crypto and adoption in the country—in alphabetical order.

Coins.ph has been active in expanding the number of the crypto it offers, including meme coins.

It also partnered with Mastercard and the Stellar Development Foundation to integrate Mastercard’s Crypto Credential solution into the Stellar blockchain network, making cross-border crypto remittances faster, cheaper, and more secure.
In line with the good market performance in November, Coins.ph shared that its trading volume and user growth grew over 10 times its trading volume compared to the same month last year.

GCash’s GCrypto, meanwhile, has been active not just in token listings but also in community events, including the Bitcoin Pizza Day and Bitbulaga—which had IRL airdrops.

This year, the crypto feature of an e-wallet giant in the country celebrated the first year of known #CryptoPH Champion Luis Buenaventura for leading GCrypto.
Moreover, in June, it launched a new and improved interface with enhanced functionality that aims to provide a more user-friendly experience, making it easier for users to navigate the app and manage their crypto assets efficiently.

Moneybees is known for its over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency exchange, where users can buy crypto directly in person.

In April, it had a strategic partnership with pawnshop conglomerate Tambunting Kahera ng Bayan branches that aims to enhance the availability of cryptocurrency financial services in the Philippines, focusing on Forbes Park in Makati and rural, remote regions across the country.
It also collaborated with JK BitcoinHub, a new venture managed and operated by PSulit Money Changer. The partnership opened a third OTC crypto exchange service in Molito Commercial Complex of Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

PDAX is active in listing tokens, community building, and offering new opportunities to traders.

PDAX and the Philippine Red Cross have partnered for enhanced efficiency and speed in helping Filipinos through crypto donations.
The crypto exchange is also offering “Hold and Earn,” a yield-farming campaign that offers at least a 10% annual interest rate.
PDAX is also facilitating the conversion of PayPal USD, $PYUSD, into Philippine pesos as part of a new partnership between global financial firm PayPal and local financial giant Cebuana Lhuillier.
This year, it launched two new resources to help Filipino investors navigate the world of web3 finance and crypto trading: the “Money Beyond Digitalization” journal and the Crypto Cheat Sheet.
In June, PDAX also brought back its limit order feature to allow crypto investors to set a specific price at which they want to buy or sell crypto.

Community

The #CryptoPH Community is a community of communities—we all love blockchain, but there are maka-Bitcoin, maka-Ethereuem, maka-Solana, maka-Tezos, maka-NFT, maka-meme coin, and all.

Superteam, the distributed talent layer of the Solana Ecosystem, officially launched its operations in the Philippines in February 2024, forming the Superteam Philippines that has made multiple meetups and educational initiatives in the country.

The Bitcoin Pizza Day, a celebration to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the first known real-world BTC transaction—when a Bitcoin (BTC) miner purchased pizza for 10,000 $BTC—was also celebrated by multiple crypto communities across the country.

Kaia Blockchain, the network formed through the merger of Klaytn and Line, launched in the Philippines, introduced its genesis products Infinite Shooting and four other web3 games, and highlighted the gaming community in the country.

OpenGuild, which aims to assist developers of all levels, providing mentorship and resources for building on Polkadot pledged their efforts to introduce the Polkadot blockchain to more Filipinos.

The Blockchain Council of the Philippines (BCP) introduced its new advisory board at the BCP Annual General Membership Meeting 2024 including members from licensed crypto exchanges Coins.ph, PDAX, DA5, and Moneybees.

The #CryptoPH Conversation organized by BitPinas invited Former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay and GCrypto Head Luis Buenaventura to discuss Bitcoin, the every-four-years Bitcoin halving event, and meet with the community.

More Milestones

Here are the top achievements of the #CryptoPH community:

The Philippines is the fifth largest country in terms of crypto ownership with 16 million holders.
Two Filipinos claimed victory in Arweave ecosystem hackathon “Weaver’s Permahacks 2024.”
Filipino-led BreederDAO won at web3 gaming hackathon by Eve Online Maker CCP Games.
Pinoy-led NFT ticketing platform ReQuest was also victorious at a Solana Summit.

Not Always a Good News

It’s not always good news, here are some important news items that we covered:

In January, Marvin Favis, a crypto trading-focused content creator, together with fellow investors, turned to the reality show Raffy Tulfo in Action to expose an investment fraud that resulted in the loss of approximately ₱72 million.

Favis’ case showed that even veteran crypto traders can fall victim to fraud if we are not mindful enough in observing the red flags.

Maya’s own crypto trading platform had been inaccessible for almost a week due to maintenance, users reported in the last week of June.

By June 30, Maya’s crypto feature was available but users cannot transfer and withdraw their assets.
According to Maya, the maintenance was due to an issue with their crypto service caused by a vendor’s system.
This accident, without proper notice to users, makes Filipino traders doubtful of using local exchanges.

Coins.ph’s X account got hacked and promoted a Pump.fun-launched token.

This also caused a negative impact on the local crypto exchange industry as many argued that, “If they cannot secure their own accounts, how can they secure our money?”
Betur. Inc, the company that holds the VASP license for Coins.ph, disclosed in December its financial challenges in its 2023 Audited Financial Statements, including a ₱2.5 billion accumulated deficit; crypto reserve deficits, such as a ₱192 million deficit in XRP; and capital deficiency amounting to ₱666.4 million.
- CEO Wei Zhou, on three separate occasions, challenged the article and also reaffirmed that the company has a more stable financial position in 2024.

Maya mistakenly sold 1 $USDC for ₱1 each and demanded those traders who took advantage of the price error to bring back their profit, put their account on hold, and received a formal letter.

In a follow-up post where BitPinas asked the community whether they agreed with Maya’s actions on the issue, comments were divided but more were in favor of not returning the profits, as the transactions were legitimate.
Maya’s terms and conditions were also brought up if there is any applicable rule for the scenario. Because if none, then what Maya did was improper, according to some commenters.
Traders also shared that they got scared and had trauma, fearing that Maya would charge them legally.