Largest Philippines crypto exchange, Coins.ph, said to face central bank regulatory action

Coins.ph is reportedly facing punitive action from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Philippines’ central bank. The reported concerns involve business transactions with offshore gambling companies. Regulators have already restricted deposits made through Coins.ph’s main wallet firm, DCPay Philippines.

The restriction reportedly began at the start of the month and was not time-bound. Unlike temporary suspensions for technical failures such as throughput or latency problems, this restriction came without a stated reason. Two people familiar with the situation said the alleged infractions could justify stripping Coins.ph of its license.

Coins.ph and the central bank had not responded to requests for comment by publication time. The reported action remains significant because Coins.ph serves more than 18 million customers and handles a large share of Philippine peso-to-stablecoin liquidity. Any license decision could therefore affect the country’s wider crypto market.

Losing its license would be the most severe consequence described in the report. Two people familiar with the situation said the alleged infractions involving offshore gambling firms were serious enough for the central bank to strip Coins.ph of permission to operate.

That outcome could disrupt a major part of the local crypto market. Coins.ph has more than 18 million customers, about $50 million in 24-hour spot trading volume, and roughly 75%-80% of the Philippines’ peso-to-stablecoin liquidity. One source described a possible license loss as “an earthquake” for the country’s crypto ecosystem.

The immediate reported step is narrower: restrictions on deposits through DCPay Philippines. The article does not say that the license has been revoked. Coins.ph and the central bank had not commented by publication time, so the final regulatory outcome remains unknown.

Coins.ph is described as the Philippines’ largest cryptocurrency exchange. Its reported scale matters because the company is not a small specialist platform. It has more than 18 million customers and sits at a central point in the country’s crypto trading and payment activity.

The exchange records about $50 million in 24-hour spot trading volume. It also controls an estimated 75%-80% of peso-to-stablecoin liquidity in the Philippines. That market connects local pesos with stablecoins, which are crypto assets designed to maintain a relatively stable value, according to the article’s description of the transaction channel.

This concentration helps explain why regulatory action could affect the wider ecosystem. A restriction on Coins.ph could reach many customers and businesses that use its services. The figures come from the report and describe the exchange’s reported position, not a guarantee that its market share will remain unchanged.

The reported shift followed a central bank crackdown on gambling through e-wallet applications. More than a year ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas directed supervised institutions to cut in-app access to gambling sites. That made banks and other regulated e-wallets less available for gambling-related activity.

According to people familiar with the situation, several gambling entities then migrated to Coins.ph. A third person familiar with central bank regulatory processes said the move offered an additional benefit: access to crypto and stablecoins for paying offshore partners. In this way, Coins.ph reportedly became a channel after other services restricted gambling access.

The regulator’s reported concerns now involve Coins.ph’s service to offshore gambling firms. The article does not specify which firms used the exchange or detail each transaction. It says only that the alleged business relationships were serious enough to prompt restrictions and potentially threaten Coins.ph’s license.

Anti-money-laundering compliance is the system a financial company uses to detect, investigate, and report transactions that may involve illegally obtained funds or hidden identities. It typically includes transaction monitoring, customer checks, recordkeeping, and reporting duties. These controls help regulators judge whether a firm is managing financial crime risks.

Coins.ph reportedly lost several senior staff this year. They included chief compliance officer Lexi Herrera, head of anti-money laundering transaction monitoring Chris Beaño, and money laundering reporting officer Irish Calagui. Their roles were directly connected to oversight, suspicious-activity monitoring, and regulatory reporting.

The departures do not by themselves prove that Coins.ph failed to comply. However, they matter because they occurred alongside reported central bank restrictions and allegations involving offshore gambling firms. A regulator may examine whether the company retained effective controls, whether suspicious transactions were detected, and whether required reports were made. The article does not state the regulator’s specific findings.

A crypto exchange is a marketplace and service that lets users trade local currency for digital assets. In this case, the key bridge is between Philippine pesos and stablecoins. Stablecoins can be used to represent value on crypto networks while aiming for a more stable price than many other cryptocurrencies.

The article says Coins.ph controls about 75%-80% of Philippine peso-to-stablecoin liquidity. It also says offshore gambling firms reportedly moved to the exchange after other e-wallets restricted gambling access. Crypto and stablecoins gave those firms a way to pay offshore partners, according to a person familiar with central bank regulatory processes.

That role makes exchanges important financial gateways, but also places them under regulatory scrutiny. The article reports concerns that Coins.ph served restricted offshore gambling businesses. It does not describe every payment, identify the partners, or establish that all crypto activity on the platform was connected to gambling.

Remittances matter because Filipinos working abroad send substantial money back home. The article says more than 10.8 million Filipinos live outside the country and that they repatriate about $43 billion a year, although most use banks and money transfer services. These flows support households and connect overseas workers with the Philippine economy.

Coins.ph is important to the crypto side of that system because it controls roughly 75%-80% of peso-to-stablecoin liquidity. That channel can help users move between pesos and stablecoins. It can also support payments involving offshore businesses. The article separately says gambling firms used crypto and stablecoins to pay offshore partners.

A restriction or license loss could therefore reduce access to a major crypto conversion route. Customers and businesses might face disruption or need other services, but the article does not quantify those effects. It also does not say that most remittances use Coins.ph; it specifically says most remittances use banks and money transfer services.