Binance is trying to enter the Philippine market through a local partner. Regulators are making it clear that this won’t be simple.
The country’s central bank said that neither the world’s largest crypto exchange nor its local partner, BlockShoals Technologies Inc., hold the necessary license to operate as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) in the country, BitPinas media reported.
The license, issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, is essential to facilitate crypto payments and transactions and is separate from any approval granted by the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
CoinDesk has contacted Binance for comment.
Binance was previously active in the country. But in 2023, the SEC indicated that it was operating without a license. It ordered internet service providers and app stores to block the exchange the following year.
Last month, Binance said it was working with BlockShoals, a local fintech company that received initial clearance from the SEC in November as part of the regulator’s sandbox. The sandbox, called StratBox (Strategic Sandbox), is a controlled and supervised environment for fintech and crypto companies to test financial services.
According to BitPinas, the central bank has explicitly stated that participation in the sandbox does not replace central bank authorization, and that entities wishing to operate in the country must comply with both frameworks independently.
The report also said the SEC revised its language in the sandbox agreement, describing Binance as a global crypto-asset service provider rather than a global VASP, a narrower designation. The revised terms also require BlockShoals to integrate its systems with a licensed national VASP within 90 days before onboarding of any user via Binance infrastructure can begin.
Binance is back out the door. It remains to be seen whether this will be accepted and under what conditions.
