The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued a definitive hammer to purge anonymity-enhancing assets from the local digital economy.
Under the newly signed Memorandum No. M-2026-023, the central bank has explicitly prohibited all licensed Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) from listing, trading, or supporting privacy coins on their platforms.
The memorandum, signed by BSP Deputy Governor Lyn I. Javier, outlines strict "Six Pillars of Due Diligence" covering an issuer's background, market cap, clear use cases, tech audit transparency, reserve structures, and legal compliance. It also enforces automated triggers for immediate token delisting during cybersecurity breaches or de-pegging events.
The Reality: There is Nothing to Ban!
While the announcement sounds drastic, the central bank is effectively banning a ghost asset class. Local centralized crypto exchanges have never listed anonymity-heavy tokens like Monero ($XMR$) or Zcash ($ZEC$) in the Philippines.
I have confirmed this with one of the local VASP CEOs, who stated it was in their own policy never to list privacy tokens.
The country's long-standing compliance guidelines, which require absolute traceability to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, have always implicitly barred local crypto platforms from touching privacy-centric assets. This new memorandum simply codifies what has been the operational reality for Philippine exchanges for years.
Here are more news in the Philippines this week:
🏛️ Local Regulation & Sandbox Updates
BlockShoals Selects Unnamed Local VASP for Binance Integration; SEC Re-Enforces "No Public Trades"
The technical plumbing behind Binance’s regulated sandbox comeback is starting to take shape. BlockShoals Technologies Inc. announced that it has officially selected a local, BSP-licensed VASP to serve as its integration partner under the SEC’s StratBox framework.
System onboarding and integration will begin as soon as formal due diligence is finalized. Marie Antonette Quiogue, BlockShoals' Head of Legal, noted that partnering with a heavily regulated local VASP was a built-in requirement of the original sandbox layout.
📊 Corporate Moves & Mass Adoption
GCash Parent Mynt Greenlights Filings for Massive Q4 IPO Listing
Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), parent company of GCash, has officially approved board and shareholder filings for its upcoming Initial Public Offering (IPO)
The registration statement, submitted to both the SEC and the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), maps out a public offering equivalent to 12.0% of Mynt's total outstanding common shares.
Mynt is leveraging a new regulatory framework that permits exceptionally large listings to drop below the traditional 20% minimum public float down to 12.0% to fuel domestic capital markets.
Backed heavily by Globe Telecom, Ayala Corp, Ant Group, and MUFG, the platform aims to go live on the PSE by the fourth quarter of 2026.
🤝 Humanitarian On-Chain Impact
Binance Charity & Coins Deploy Millions in Aid for Mindanao Earthquake Victims
Following a catastrophic magnitude 7.8 earthquake that devastated southern Mindanao, impacting over 1.4 million residents across General Santos City and Sarangani, the crypto sector has mobilized massive funding pipelines:
Coins.ph: The licensed VASP has turned over a ₱3 million direct donation to Angat Pinas, more popularly known as Angat Buhay, led by Executive Director Raffy Magno. The relief pipelines are prioritizing instant procurement of food packages, clean drinking water, and dedicated resources to rescue and care for displaced animals.
Binance Charity & BlockShoals: Operating jointly under their sandbox framework, the organizations have committed ₱4 million in emergency supplies and financial aid. Working on the ground with the Philippine Red Cross, the group is leveraging blockchain rails to disburse emergency financial resources directly to displaced families.
🕹️ Web3 Gaming & Community Shifts
Ronin Network Title 'Fishing Frenzy' Shuts Down Despite 9M Installs
Development studio Uncharted has announced the permanent closure of its flagship game on the Ronin network, Fishing Frenzy. Despite reaching a peak metric of 9 million total installs, 25k daily active users, and bringing in $1 million in revenue, the studio could not establish a long-term, viable product-market-business fit.
The game's servers will go offline on June 25. The closure follows similar 2026 Ronin ecosystem financial exits, including Pixiland and Forgotten Runiverse.
YGG Play's 'Ragnarok Breaker' Hits 3,000 Sign-ups at Launch
On a brighter note for the gaming community, YGG Play officially went live with Ragnarok Breaker on June 11, securing over 3,000 pre-registrations prior to its browser launch. The wave-survival roguelike shooter is the first game built entirely on Planetarium Labs' AI-native Verse8 infrastructure, which enables rapid, polished web game deployments.
📍 Live Events & Regional Ecosystem Gatherings
Philippine Blockchain Week 2026 Kicks Off Today: "Decoded: Deployed"
Philippine Blockchain Week (PBW) 2026, officially opens its doors today, June 19, and runs through June 21 at the SMX Convention Center Manila. Boasting an expected crowd of over 15,000 attendees, this year’s installment marks a hard shift away from purely conceptual web3 talks to raw, real-world deployment.
Blockchain Impact 2026 Convenes Web3 Builders in BGC on June 27
The momentum continues later this month as the high-caliber, single-day summit Blockchain Impact 2026 takes over the BGC Arts Center on June 27. Presented by MIYI Core (the infrastructure arm of MIYI Exchange) alongside key sponsors Eco Green Tech (EGT) and Bambitz, the strictly curated event cuts through market noise to prioritize cross-border capital deployment and actionable utility insights.
The summit program focuses heavily on real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, supply chain verifiability, and Web3 prediction markets. Beyond the masterclasses led by MIYI Core CEO Dr. Jack Chia and EGT CEO Michael Menghetti, Bambitz Records CMO Cecilia Wong will introduce their virtual panda band ecosystem on Solana, culminating in an elite, high-energy networking after-party at Revel in BGC.
One question ❓
Should the BSP ban privacy coins in local exchanges?
📊 PH Regulatory & Adoption Snapshot
Entity/ Initiative | Core Focus | Regulatory Status | Real-World Impact |
Privacy Coins | Digital Asset Compliance | 🔴 Banned by BSP | Zero operational disruption. Compliant local centralized exchanges have never listed anonymity-heavy assets due to internal policies and long-standing traceability rules. |
BlockShoals x Binance | Infra Sandbox | 🟡 Approved SEC Sandbox | Backend testing only. A local licensed VASP integration partner has been selected to build fiat rails. Public onboarding and active market trading remain strictly illegal. |
GCash (Mynt) | Mobile Fintech & IPOn | 🟢 SEC & PSE Filings Approved | ₱7 million total committed. Coins.ph donated ₱3M directly to Angat Pinas. Binance Charity and BlockShoals committed ₱4M, utilizing blockchain technology to disburse funds to Mindanao earthquake victims. |
Ragnarok Breaker (YGG Play) | Web3 Gaming | 🟢 Live Browser Launch | Ecosystem expansion. The wave-survival shooter successfully went live on June 11, drawing over 3,000 pre-registrations via Planetarium Labs’ AI-native Verse8 infrastructure. |
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By Michael Mislos, Editor-in-Chief, BitPinas