Bitcoin Forum

Tiningnan ko yung first 20 pages ng Philippines child board para maghanap ng topic na dedicated para sa Bitcoin news involving Philippines and wala pa naman gumagawa, kaya naisipan ko na gumawa ng new topic para dito.

PS: Self-moderated po ang topic na ito para masiguro ang kalidad ng mga posts at para ma-discourage na rin yung mga spammers na may ma-post lang. ;D

Philippines Mulling Bitcoin Regulation as Remittance Use Surges
by Siegfrid Alegado
December 21, 2016, 5:00 AM GMT+8


The Philippines is considering regulations for digital currencies as the government seeks to bolster protection for the increasing number of overseas Filipinos using bitcoin and its counterparts to send money home.

The volume of transactions involving digital currencies is “rising very quickly” because they offer a cheaper and quicker way to move cash than through regular remittance channels, Nestor Espenilla, a deputy governor at the central bank, said in a Dec. 19 interview at his office in Manila.

“We are concerned with potential money laundering and consumer protection,” said Espenilla, who heads the central bank’s supervision and examination unit. “We are studying putting virtual currency exchange operators under a more formal regulatory framework.”

The central bank is bolstering its anti-money laundering efforts after money from one of the largest heists in modern history found its way into the Philippines earlier this year, and after a series of high-profile security breaches at bitcoin exchanges. In August, hackers stole about $65 million of bitcoin from a Hong Kong-based exchange. Almost three years ago, Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, once the largest bitcoin exchange in the world, disclosed it was hacked and filed for bankruptcy weeks later.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas estimates the volume of remittance transactions involving virtual currencies has risen to at least $2 million a month. While for now that represents a small proportion of the record $25.8 billion of funds Filipinos working abroad sent home last year, it signals the need to regulate the use of digital currencies, which are currently governed by a “mere advisory to the public” about their pros and cons, according to Espenilla.

“One class of operations framework that we’re looking at right now will allow virtual currencies to operate in the country, and that makes them accountable for certain matters like anti-money laundering initiatives,” he said.

The Philippines has stepped up its efforts at warding off money laundering and technology crimes after thieves hacked into the Bangladeshi central bank’s account at the U.S. Federal Reserve in February and routed $81 million to accounts at Manila-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Most of the funds disappeared after being transferred through a remittance company to gaming halls in the Philippines.
The central bank has since announced a plan to expand its cyber-security unit and has placed banks, money changers and even pawnshop operators under tighter scrutiny.

Companies using virtual currencies to conduct business will likely be asked to conduct client checks, report suspicious transactions and send data to the central bank, Espenilla said.

“We have to be mindful of what risks are being introduced into the system,” he said. “In exchange, virtual currency operators get legitimacy. For so long as the regulatory environment is clear, innovation can happen.”

Central banks should lead the way in supervising digital currencies and developing their own, in order to best take advantage of their “considerable promise,” People’s Bank of China Vice Governor Fan Yifei wrote in a September column.


Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-20/philippines-mulling-bitcoin-regulation-as-remittance-use-surges-ix1eg601

Bitcoin Surges to Outperform Gold, Stocks
by Cory Johnson
3:45 AM CST
December 24, 2016

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-12-23/bitcoin-surges-to-outperform-gold-stocks

Naspot-light yung Philippines sa news :)

Ito yun nag deposit ako kahapon sa ibang 7/11 kinakailangan pang tgnan yung phone ko kung para saan.. humihigpit nga sila ngayon

What?! Seriously ganun kahigpit? Worried sila kasi wala silang competency i-regulate ito. Kaya nga dapat hindi umasa ang mga tao sa exchanges gaya ng coins.ph dahil isang form ng centralization ito ng bitcoin, na sya namang dinisenyo para maging decentralized.

yup, bale tatlong 7/11 store ako nag deposit at parang ganun ang SOP nila kailangan tignan nung cashier. Nung isang time scan na sana agad nung cashier pero bglang tumigil sabay sabi sa akin na tignan niya muna daw ang phone ko for verification.

ako lang ba naka experience nyan?

Sana nga lang hdi agad ibibigay nung coins.ph ang database nila kapag gusto mag check ng gobyerno hehe

So tinitingnan nila kung ikaw yung may-ari ng account at least. Siguro prineprevent nila na non-owner yung magtotop-up ng account para sa owner. Most likely AML related procedures.

boss anong cheneck sa phone mo? kakapanibago yan ah. di pa kasi ako nagtry mag deposit ulit sa kanila.

edit

baka sa sunod nyan pag mag top up ka eh need mo na ng I.D  ;D

Patay tayo jan ::)

http://images.crystalscomments.com/1/974406552168a35d5095.jpg

Protocol yan and it's a must. Money involved kasi kaya dapat secure ang lahat para in case of money fraud may mga backup forms for further investigation. And isa pa, 7-11 is a big merchant dito sa Pilipinas and dahil mayroon na silang money services need nila magcomply sa money laws and regulations dito sa bansa.


It's not about the worrying thing. Wala tayo magagawa diyan kasi wala naman direct exchanges company na puwede paggamitan or ipangconvert ng mga bitcoin natin and I think di magkakaroon nito especially here sa Pinas (except tao sa tao pero hassle to) at gagamit pa rin tayo ng serbisyo ng mga exchanges. And for coins.ph to operate legally dito sa bansa, gaya ng nabanggit ko sa taas, they have to comply with our money rules and regulations kasi di lang naman bitcoin services ang sakop nila. Mayroon diyan bills payments, money transfer to banks and other options etc.

Makes sense for a business like 7/11 na sort of money processor services na rin. So much for KYC these days. Regarding bitcoin exchanges like coins.ph, most users aren't getting the best exchange rates as may spread na 3.5% something ang buy over sell. The price of convenience.

Business kasi eh and no doubt almost lahat ng magagandang services and options to use our bitcoin ay nasa coins.ph. Hassle free and talagang one click away lang ang conversion at pagtransfer to our preferred withdrawal options. Wag lang sobrang taas ng diffferences sa buy and sell tapos basura pa serbisyo. But you know puwede pa mabago yan if ever there will be the same company that matched what coins.ph can do which is likely odds are low to happen.

Anyways mukhang OT na yata to hehe, last na to OP just giving out some context of our concern. :)

Yes, I wish coins.ph has a competition so we have a better market for bitcoin. But I like the ease given by coins.ph though. :D

Kakacashin ko lang sa 7/11 kanina and wala naman ganyang tiningnan kung parasaan. Yung cliqq machine kasi nila ang ginamit ko. Inabot ko lang yung recibo then binayaran ko + yung fee wala naman na ibang itinanong o kun ano.
Kung totoo na nichecheck pa nila kung para saan napakauncomfortable na para sa akin nun kayasiguro next time gcash na lang gagamitin ko pagcashin para walang tanong tanong.

nag cacash in din ako madalas pero wala naman ako na eencounter ng ganyan pinapakita ko lamang ang receipt sa cashier then scan lang nila tapos ok na agad ganun lang, saka ano ang tinitignan sa phone mo? diba dapat din tinanong mo yung cashier kung bakit at anong problema sa phone bakit kailangan tignan diba!

Yung 7-connect ang ginagamit ko. Tama uncomfortable para sa akin yun pero siguro nga sabi ni hashkey eh for KYC purposes.

Sana hanggang sa paghihigpit lang ang gagawin ni coins.ph kasi kapag lumala yan baka yung rate na binibigay nila sa atin sa palitan ng buy and sell ay mapatawan pa ng tax kapag nangialam na ang gobyerno.
Pero sana naman wag mangyari yung taxation kasi madami ring mga freelancer yung nag tatrabaho online pero walang pinapataw na tax.
Mukhang ang main concern lang naman ng bangko sentral ay yung money laundering na posible talagang magawa gamit ang bitcoin.

same here, wala naman akong naeexperience na ganyan kapag nag ccash in ako sa 7-11, bigay QR code lang tapos scan nila then bayad na ayun tapos na. wala naman ibang tinitingnan sa phone ko or kung anong klaseng verification na gusto nila

no such experience yet with 7-eleven when cashing in to my coins.ph account. ang na-experience ko sa bdo kinuha ID ko and mobile number nung nag cash in ako ng 100k

Ako din wala naman akong naexperience, I printed order # from coins.ph tapos pinabayaran ko sa mother ko since mamamalengke sila, nakisuyo na lang ako sa kanila na pakibayaran yung purchase order ko.  Pinadala ko lang yung printout then pagdating ng nanay ko tinanong ko kung ano ginawa nung inabot nila yung papel, sabi inscan lang daw tapos tinanggap yung bayad. Wala na namang verification.

Kahapon nag cash in din ako sa coins through 7/11. Wala namang sinabi yung cashier na tignan niya muna phone ko. Bakit kaya? Baka next time pag ganyan hihinhi na sila ng I.D. pero ok lang naman sa akin yan. Pera kasi ang pinag uusapan diyan kaya siguro sumusunod lang din sila.

Until no rules has been drafted and sign yet, we can continue to do like what we normally do. The laws that will be made is just to combat the illegal transactions online as required by the Anti Money Laundering Council and for sure the local exchanges where we convert our bitcoins into fiat will surely notify us once it's out for implementation.

Well let me do it for them.  http://www.coindesk.com/philippines-just-released-new-rules-bitcoin-exchanges/

There ya go.

Now see how easy it will be to buy and sell BTC without Govenment issued ID, your picture, selfie holding your ID, your proof of income, your monthly expected transaction amounts, and ultimately, your ITR will all be part of this wonderful regulation that so many here don't realize has put you right back into the hands or government.

Ang tanong lang dito is, paano ung  mga kumikita or nagpapalit ng pera ng less than the amount na taxable by the government?  Automatically hindi sila matatax ng gobyerno tama ba? 
Mahirap na talaga bumili ng bitcoin if dadaan ka sa exchanges pero kung peer 2 peer, wala naman hassle.  Another thing yung kinakapatid ko nagsignup sa coins.ph, hinahanapan na ng source of income dun sa application.

susnod na lang siguro yan sa kung saan tax bracket siya mag fall under. kung dun siya sa low income, la na siyang tax. pero sa exchange, may charges na silang kinukuha dahil sila ang binabantayan ng gobyerno ngayon. yung mga charges na kinukuha sa atin, ginagamit na nila yan to cover yung mga taxes imposed sa kanila as remittance agent.

about dun sa friend mong nagsign up sa coins, sagutin na lang nya lahat ng possible sources: padala from abroad, payment sa pagtuturo online or whatever service ang nai-extend nya, commissions sa networking or direct selling business, mga ganun  ;)

I wonder if you can just make that claim without documentary evidence to support it such as Western Union remittance slip showing fund going to you etc.

Maganda nga na ma regulate na talaga sa atin ng BSP ang exchange ng BTC para safe rin tayong mga gumagamit ng bitcoin sa mg online wallet na nilalagyan natin ng pera natin. Mahirap maghabol ng pera na bigla nalang nawawala pag ma hack or mang scam ang online wallet provider.

Tama nga talaga iregulate to ng bangko sentral ng pilipinas, pero, mahirap kasi talaga kung kuhanin to ng bangko sentral ngg pilipinas. Unang una na, dahil baka magkaroon ng fees ang bitcoin exchanges? O kaya additional transaction fees kapag ginamit ang bitcoin na panggastos o pangshopping. Kailangan malaman natin muna an mangyayari

@OP ang ganda ng naisip mong thread, may nakuha agad akong balita. Hindi kasi ako aware in terms of cash in, yung mgdedeposit ng cash for bitcoin tulad noong sa 7/11 nga. Ngayon, nalaman ko na may mga changes pala at mahigpit na. Advantage ko lang na hindi ko kailangan pagdaanan yung ganun (as of now), pero syempre mabuti na din yung updated in case kailanganin.

P.S. sana patuloy na maging updated yung thread para sa mga bagong balita, tulong sa mga hindi updated. Thank you