Philippines regulator seeks to expand crypto powers

The regulator has put forward a new set of crypto rules that are now subject to public consultation prior to their implementation.

The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is taking a closer and harder look at the country’s cryptocurrency industry.

The regulator is looking to strengthen its control and monitoring capacity of the fast-developing crypto sector and is planning to act on new draft rules that are yet to be legalized should they pass through public comment successfully.

Essentially, the country’s SEC should soon be able to also exercise regulatory capacity over digital financial products, and cryptocurrencies.

Among the new powers are control over “rule-making, surveillance, inspection, market monitoring, and more enforcement”.

SEC is powerful in the Philippines as the watchdog is also allowed to create, change and pass rules in its sector, similar to how the country’s central bank operates.

SEC wants to ensure that it has a solid understanding of the crypto industry in the country, which has been challenging given the decentralized nature of exchanges, currencies, and investment opportunities.

However, the regulator has been actively looking to educate residents on certain good practices. In an update issued last month, SEC said that it recommended citizens to avoid using unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges.

The regulator also criticized exchanges that allowed Filipino citizens to gain access to their platforms even though they had no official license to offer such services. The country’s relationship with crypto assets has been an interesting one.

Most prominently, the Philippines turned into a hotbed for Axie Infinity, a blockchain and web3 game that quickly became very popular in the country, because of its unique earning potential that saw people buy homes off profit made in-game. Not only that, but the Philippines even considered taxing gains from Axie Infinity.

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Written by Barney

Co-founder

Barney is co-founder of CryptoGamblingNews.com. When not at work he can usually be found behind a Nikon. He's won numerous international competitions for his photography and volunteers as a content creator for aid organisations in Africa.

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