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Policy

Philippines Central Bank to Halt Applications for New Digital Asset Firms for 3 Years

The Bangko Sentral said it will conduct a reassessment based on market developments.

By Jamie Crawley
AccessTimeIconAug 11, 2022 at 11:51 a.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 5:13 p.m. UTC
Manila, Philippines (Alexes Gerard/Unsplash)

Manila, Philippines (Alexes Gerard/Unsplash)

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The Philippines' central bank said it will stop processing applications for new virtual asset services providers (VASP) licenses for three years starting Sept. 1.

  • The Bangko Sentral will conduct a reassessment based on market developments, according to a memo dated on Wednesday.
  • The central bank said it "aims to strike a balance between promoting innovation in the financial sector and ensuring that associated risks remain within manageable levels."
  • Applications that have completed stage 2 of the bank's licensing process by Aug. 31 will be processed and assessed as normal. Any with incomplete requirements will be closed.
  • Existing Bangko Sentral-supervised financial institutions that wish to expand crypto operations will still be able to apply for a VASP license.
  • The Bangko Sentral said last year that around 53% of Filipino adults are unbanked, suggesting there is a significant use case for cryptocurrency services in the country to spur financial inclusion.

Read more: South African Central Bank to Look at Regulating Crypto

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Jamie Crawley
Jamie Crawley

Jamie Crawley is a CoinDesk news reporter based in London.

Follow @JamieCrawleyCD on Twitter

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