The Philippines’ central bank has issued new rules requiring licensed crypto exchanges to implement strict due diligence before listing digital assets. The guidelines explicitly ban privacy-focused cryptocurrencies like Monero and Zcash. This move continues a year of tightening regulations that began with the securities regulator’s licensing framework and blocks on offshore platforms.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has mandated all licensed Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) to build rigorous due diligence processes for listing new coins and tokens. In a memorandum, the central bank said the rules aim to promote financial stability and protect customers. The guidelines also prohibit VASPs from listing or trading “anonymity-enhancing” virtual assets, effectively removing privacy coins from compliant local exchanges.
Exchanges must now conduct ongoing monitoring and define thresholds for suspending or delisting assets, such as liquidity loss or security breaches. “This is long overdue, and I think this is the right call,” said Alden Yburan, head of crypto at GCash. Yburan expressed more conflicted views on the privacy coin ban, noting they exist for legitimate reasons but acknowledging the nation’s remittance-heavy economy cannot allow such anonymity.
The Philippines ranks ninth on Chainalysis’s 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index. Crypto firms in the country answer to two separate authorities: the BSP for payment rails and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for securities. The SEC enacted rules last June requiring crypto-asset service providers to register locally and hold $1.8 million in paid-up capital.
By August, the SEC had blocked access to 10 offshore platforms, including OKX, Bybit, Kraken, and KuCoin. Binance is attempting to return via a partnership with local firm BlockShoals Technologies Inc., which received initial SEC clearance. However, the BSP stated neither Binance nor BlockShoals holds a VASP license, and the SEC has since reclassified Binance as a “global crypto-asset service provider.”
