The Philippines Officially Legitimize Bitcoin as Payment Method

[imeetup]

BTC is legal to use in the Philippines, but it is not legal tender yet like in Japan.

However, the Philippines has a wildly successful bitcoin exchange called Coins.PH and you can use it to pay directly with btc for phone bills, utility bills, and send money to your friends or convert to fiat and withdraw from the ATM, without even needing an ATM card but just two pin codes they send you through SMS.

[SingAlong]

Bankgko Sentral ng Pilipinas, hereinafter BSP, is officially regulating local Philippine Bitcoin exchanges as remittance companies and recognizing Bitcoin as a legitimate payment method.

Earlier this month, BSP Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla announced the plans of the Philippine Central Bank to issue a proper regulatory framework for Bitcoin users, exchanges and companies. Espenilla emphasized the exponential growth of Bitcoin within the country, stating that monthly Bitcoin volumes increased from $1 mln to $6 mln a month in a year.

Is there a reliable source for your statement? Because I've heard the Philippines already banned bitcoin from their environment. This looks strange if the government is changing the direction for bitcoin to be the payment method in there. Looks they can't do anything with bitcoin rather accept the bitcoin to be the payment method.  

nope you are wrong, bitcoin is legal in Philippines besides they only issued a warning against virtual currencies like bitcoin in 2014 that they aren't endorsing any virtual currecies. stating that,

"The Bangko Sentral does not intend to endorse any [virtual currency], such as bitcoin, as a currency since it is neither issued or guaranteed by a central bank nor backed by any commodity. Rather, the BSP aims to regulate [virtual currencies] when used for delivery of financial services, particularly, for payments and remittances, which have material impact on anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT), consumer protection and financial stability."

but in february 2017 according to the article i read a few months ago, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas BSP for short, issued a rules and regulations in bitcoin exchanges in Philippines.

so, next time do your own research first before posting you comment here  

I was surprised that he said BSP has banned Bitcoin somehow which turns out as not true. I don't where he heard that kind of news or just a made up one? If somehow Bitcoin was banned in the Philippines then surely I will see news in the TV, social media, and my co-Bitcoin enthusiasts. I even see articles earlier this year in the page of mBTC.ph way back February also:

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Circular No. 944 Series of 2017
Subject: Guidelines for Virtual Currency (VC) Exchanges
The Monetary Board, in its Resolution No. 121 dated 1.9 January 20L7, approved the following rules and regulations governing operations of VC exchanges in the Philippines, which shall be incorporated as Section 4512N of the Manual of Regulations for Non-Bank Financial Institutions (MORNBFI).
....
read more: http://www.bsp.gov.ph/…/regulatio…/attachments/2017/c944.pdf

Seems like he needs to do his homework.

[Wind_FURY]

No offense to you Philipinos but I do not think your government is ready to regulate Bitcoin. Your country still is having difficulty in controlling all the money laundering. There was news that the ISIS rebels over there have millions in cash and checks found in one house owned by ISIS. How did it get there and who is giving them financial support?

[lemipawa]

Your country still is having difficulty in controlling all the money laundering.

Is there a country that have complete control over money laundering?

There was news that the ISIS rebels over there have millions in cash and checks found in one house owned by ISIS.

The house is "controlled" by the rebels called Maute group. House is not owned by ISIS.
Source: http://www.rappler.com/nation/172099-marines-recover-millions-maute-marawi

Going back to the topic, it's good that BSP opened its doors to Bitcoin. It will take time before people in Philippines starts to completely trust Bitcoin. Even before the BSP circular, there are online shops that caters residents in the Philippines that accepts Bitcoins such as CashCashpinoy(dot)com.

[hase0278]

I'm glad that banko sentral officially legitimized bitcoin as payment method and for those who don't believe this, it is actually real because if it isnt, they would sue satoshi citadel industries and coins.ph, which are big companies related to bitcoin here in Philippines. It is quite good though that Philippines legalized bitcoin as payment method but right now I still don't feel it, because there aren't many stores that accept bitcoin here but maybe in the future there will be more.

[n0ne]

I have seen more users from Philippines in our forum. Already they were one among the Asian countries where bitcoin has gained more popularity even before legalizing. Now this could be a good news for the entire country, now even the people who hear it for the first time will try to use it without any fear. Regularly different governments are making path for the growth of bitcoin.

[Wind_FURY]

Your country still is having difficulty in controlling all the money laundering.

Is there a country that have complete control over money laundering?

No. But it would sure make it easier for the ISIS rebels to move value in and out of the country anonymously. That could be problematic. If the government finds out that Bitcoin is being used, what do you think will your government do then?

There was news that the ISIS rebels over there have millions in cash and checks found in one house owned by ISIS.

The house is "controlled" by the rebels called Maute group. House is not owned by ISIS.
Source: http://www.rappler.com/nation/172099-marines-recover-millions-maute-marawi

So the rebels are not affiliated with ISIS?

[Scorpion]

Some Google Philippines Search Analytics



Searches for 'Bitcoin' has been at it's peak in the past couple of weeks





Popular search terms in the Philippines related to Bitcoin.

[Amph]

im glad our country finally accept bitcoin like japan but i dont think alot of people will gonna use it since its not popular in the Philippines i think it would become popular in our country if it hits tv news

i don't know the economy situation, but if philippines is a not a rich country on average the citizen there will have hard time acquiring bitcoin on a large scale, to use it afterward

bitcoin need two things to be used in mass by a country, regulation and money, if there is not enough money regulation is pointless, and now with the current value will be hard for them to buy many bitcoin

i guess will remain a niche thing, after all bitcoin is limited, and the more country join the party, the less bitcoin each one will have

[Sithara007]

The Philippines have ISIS attacking one of their islands. Is this true? If it is then the spread of Bitcoin use in that country could also prove to be problematic because there were stories that ISIS also use Bitcoin to transfer value anonymously. It would not be too impossible to think that what is funding ISIS in the Philippines is Bitcoin.

Is it wise to promote Bitcoin now in that country?

Till now, it has never been proven that the ISIS is using Bitcoins to promote their terrorist activities. Apart from one sympathizer arrested in the state of Virginia in the United States, none of the ISIS members have been known to use Bitcoins. They seems to be having other routes to transfer their funding.

[Ucy]

Lovely. A Government that respect and cares for its own people. More need to support this. Everything should have alternative. Being Anti progress is very unnatural and will always keep failing.

[Kemarit]

Your country still is having difficulty in controlling all the money laundering.

Is there a country that have complete control over money laundering?

No. But it would sure make it easier for the ISIS rebels to move value in and out of the country anonymously. That could be problematic. If the government finds out that Bitcoin is being used, what do you think will your government do then?

There was news that the ISIS rebels over there have millions in cash and checks found in one house owned by ISIS.

The house is "controlled" by the rebels called Maute group. House is not owned by ISIS.
Source: http://www.rappler.com/nation/172099-marines-recover-millions-maute-marawi

So the rebels are not affiliated with ISIS?

They are not ISIS, please stop comparing ISIS from Syria, from the so called terrorist, ISIS wannabee or whatever your called it. Please study first the history of Philippines specially in the South (Mindanao). And stop portraying that the Philippines has been curb by terrorist (ISIS). We don't even have refugees here coming from the war torn Syria. They are isolated in the Southern part. You keep you bringing the ISIS thingy here. The money that is found has nothing to do with bitcoin as well. It was withdrawn from several banks in Mindanao from 2014-2016.

The Philippines has already regulated the used of bitcoin here. We have our local exchangers coins.ph that already complied about the government regulations. So I think you can considered us bitcoin friendly nation. You can even bought bitcoin here in a kiosk from 7-11 store and put it in your coins.ph account.

[irukandji]

That is big news

[ecnalubma]

In my thoughts legalizing bitcoin is good to hear but regulating it is a different story. There might be some disadvantages in regulating it, anonymity will be void and accounts and transactions will be more exposed. Its like taking control of the machine.

[shimbark123]

This is really a great thing for us in the Philippines to legitimize bitcoin. We can pay any bills immediately without breaking a sweat on going to a Bayad Center. This news makes bitcoin not going to die within years. At first I can't believe at this but now there is a person on this forum made a thread on this certain matter. It'll help especially for the elders. If they were the only person in a house. They just need some knowledge on how to pay from us and boom they don't need to go into a bank.

[SoulBargain]

In my thoughts legalizing bitcoin is good to hear but regulating it is a different story. There might be some disadvantages in regulating it, anonymity will be void and accounts and transactions will be more exposed. Its like taking control of the machine.

This is true somehow. If a government would decide to regulate it then they will surely ask for the users in the local exchanges and transactions made. Though the advantage is having a more better environment for bitcoin in the country so that frauds and money launderers would be put to jail and they can't freely victim anyone.

[Juggy777]

Bankgko Sentral ng Pilipinas, hereinafter BSP, is officially regulating local Philippine Bitcoin exchanges as remittance companies and recognizing Bitcoin as a legitimate payment method.

Earlier this month, BSP Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla announced the plans of the Philippine Central Bank to issue a proper regulatory framework for Bitcoin users, exchanges and companies. Espenilla emphasized the exponential growth of Bitcoin within the country, stating that monthly Bitcoin volumes increased from $1 mln to $6 mln a month in a year.

This is just amazing news look at their volumes that indicates the exponential growth of Bitcoins. This we all knew and finally it's good to see that we are going to see another country using it. This is what the community needed and it's important for us that they continue to grow. With this news now I am sure Bitcoin can in coming months go to 3300 - 3500$ very soon.

[lemipawa]

So the rebels are not affiliated with ISIS?

They might be affiliated with ISIS but that doesn't mean they own the house that they "controlled", the Maute group controlled several establishments in  Marawi including a prison cell and business establishments. In the website of ISIS they do confirm that its their work but take note that ISIS has been claiming several attacks in different countries and places including the Resort World Manila crisis where a lone gun man who is debt ridden burned casino tables and ISIS claimed that its theirs. Don't be surprised if ISIS will claim that they are the one who assassinated JFK.

I heard that Bitcoin is being used through Coins.ph in the Marawi crisis but not by the Maute group, it's being used by scammers who claim that they are part of GMA Kapuso Foundation and they are accepting donations to help the Marawi evacuees because they need food. With this kind of news its not good news to the Bitcoin community in the Philippines because its being used to scam people. GMA Kapuso Foundation denied that they are accepting Bitcoins donation through Coins.ph

[boyptc]

No offense to you Philipinos but I do not think your government is ready to regulate Bitcoin. Your country still is having difficulty in controlling all the money laundering. There was news that the ISIS rebels over there have millions in cash and checks found in one house owned by ISIS. How did it get there and who is giving them financial support?

There are no reports that it is through bitcoin, those funds are still not yet confirmed on who is financier of those rebels. I don't think that is connected to bitcoin or any crypto/virtual currency. I'm thinking after the "internal error" happened to a big bank was connected to that millions of cash. I'm sure on one thing, the opposition is trying to make the country scared by funding those rebels.

[Reid]

Bankgko Sentral ng Pilipinas, hereinafter BSP, is officially regulating local Philippine Bitcoin exchanges as remittance companies and recognizing Bitcoin as a legitimate payment method.

Earlier this month, BSP Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla announced the plans of the Philippine Central Bank to issue a proper regulatory framework for Bitcoin users, exchanges and companies. Espenilla emphasized the exponential growth of Bitcoin within the country, stating that monthly Bitcoin volumes increased from $1 mln to $6 mln a month in a year.

Is there a reliable source for your statement? Because I've heard the Philippines already banned bitcoin from their environment. This looks strange if the government is changing the direction for bitcoin to be the payment method in there. Looks they can't do anything with bitcoin rather accept the bitcoin to be the payment method. 

Here's the link bro, https://cointelegraph.com/news/the-philippines-officially-legitimize-bitcoin-as-payment-method. Actually they've changed  their mind and now start accepting bitcoin.

First of all, thanks for the link.
I first look if there is a source so here is it.
You might want to put this in your first post for many people here doesnt look at the next posts anymore. They just reply to whatever is posted above.
This is good news. One more country that have been added to the changes of bitcoin community.