GM! Three conferences happened almost concurrently last week. The first is DevConnect in Argentina. I got invited there by a friend within the Ethereum community. The next is a web3 conference in Jakarta, which I got invited to when I was in Bali last August.
What I attended is the one nearer home: The YGG Play Summit.
Yield Guild Games has been organizing this since 2022, and year in, year out, the biggest names in web3 gaming would show up in Manila around this time to be with the community where gaming is the strongest — the Philippines.
I am grateful to have been part of it as one of the moderators during the conference, as well as for the invitation to BitPinas as a media partner. (More photos if you browse the photos section of our Facebook.)
Due to some predicament, I wasn’t able to attend every single day (from Nov. 19th to 22nd) but I found that the four-day format provided ample time to experience everything the summit had to offer - from booths and activities to learning programs and, of course, hanging out.
It was a refreshing change of pace compared to events that try to cram everything into a compact one or two-day schedule.
And with that, in today’s weekly news recap, these are some of the biggest stories we covered:
🇵🇭 SEC launches free financial literacy courses.
🛰️ Ronin Wallet to enable QRPh payments
💡 Another party-list files another blockchain bill.
But before we go there, check out this upcoming event!
Happening This Saturday: BitBulaga!
Museigen and GCrypto are set to host “Crypto Lookback 2025: Wins, Misses, and Forecasts for 2026” on November 29 at the GCash 7F Amphitheater in Taguig.
The event will gather prominent figures in the Philippine crypto community, including Luis Buenaventura, Gilbert Lazaro, Gerome Lazaro, and Aldrin Rabino, to review the year’s predictions and discuss trends shaping 2026.
🇵🇭 SEC Launches Free Financial Literacy Courses
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unveiled an upgraded version of its online learning platform — SEC Academy — to help Filipinos make informed financial decisions.
According to the Commission, the upgraded platform, accessible at academy.sec.gov.ph, offers free courses on personal finance, entrepreneurship, responsible investing, and identifying investment scams and other predatory schemes.
🛰️ Ronin Wallet to Enable QRPh Payments
Users of the Ronin Wallet will soon be able to pay for everyday goods and services in the Philippines by scanning QRPh codes, following a strategic partnership announcement between Sky Mavis and Coins.ph.
The initiative, unveiled at the YGG Play Summit in Manila, aims to integrate PHPC, a Philippine Peso-backed stablecoin from Coins.ph, into the national QR payment standard.
This development would enable Ronin users to spend PHPC directly from their wallets at over 600,000 QRPh-enabled merchants nationwide. It covers transactions ranging from groceries and food deliveries to utility bills.
💡 Galing sa Puso (GP) Party-List Files 13th Blockchain Bill in Congress
House Bill 5943, filed on November 12 by Galing sa Puso (GP) Partylist Rep. Jan “Atty. JP” Padiernos, seeks to establish a National Budget Transparency and Accountability System that will operate using blockchain technology.
The proposal aims to enhance public access to government spending data and strengthen safeguards against misuse of funds.
Currently, the bill is awaiting its first reading in the House of Representatives.
Check out the article here.
🇵🇭 Around the Philippines
SEC marked World Investor Week (WIW) 2025 with Fintech Forward: Shaping Innovation and Investor Protection in the Digital Age, a two-part event held on October 28 at the SEC Headquarters in Pasay City.
The program aimed to promote financial literacy among students and strengthen collaboration between regulators and the local fintech and crypto communities.
Ralph Recto, the former Finance Secretary who has publicly led the government’s strategy to tax the digital industry and the digital asset industry, has been appointed as the new Executive Secretary by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The appointment was announced by Malacañang on Monday afternoon, November 17, following the resignations of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman.
SEC has approved the application of Blockshoals Technologies, Inc., to enter its regulatory sandbox, the agency announced.
The approval is for a proposal that involves Blockshoals, a domestic fintech firm which entered into a partnership with a global crypto exchange to operationalize its services. The global crypto exchange is not identified in the press release.
Coins.ph and Vietnam-based Best Way Corporation (FinFan) recently signed a memorandum of understanding to expand and streamline cross-border remittance and payment flows between the Philippines and Vietnam.
Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX) partnered with Toku to allow remote employees and contractors in the country to receive salaries in stablecoins.
In a media release, the firms noted that the collaboration integrates Toku’s token-based global payroll system with PDAX’s compliant cashout infrastructure.
“Crypto companies already hold stablecoins on their balance sheets… Now they can use those same assets to pay contributors in the Philippines. Our partnership with PDAX makes stablecoin payroll local and seamless.” — Ken O’Friel, CEO, Toku
Paytaca announced that its upcoming wallet release will feature a major upgrade: the integration of the Cauldron on-chain DEX directly inside the Paytaca app.
ETHPH shared that its DevConnect scholar and Mindanao representative, Rubz, is currently in Argentina for DevConnect.
BayaniChain’s Paul Soliman joined JCI Manila’s event “The Future of Search: Ranking Smarter with AI”.
🎮 At The Scene: YGG Play Summit
YGG Play Summit returned to Manila on November 19-22, and brought together web3 gaming leaders to showcase new product launches and discuss market developments.
The event highlighted community resilience amid a challenging crypto climate, with key announcements from Spekter Games, Moku, OpenSea, and Sky Mavis.
Government and industry speakers also highlighted expanding digital jobs, AI-driven gameplay, and the continuing role of Filipino players in shaping the global web3 gaming ecosystem.
Check out our articles about summit here,
📅 Event Calendar
Final words
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By Michael Mislos, Editor-in-Chief, BitPinas