AMA (Ask Me Anything): The current state of Bitcoin in the Philippines 🇵🇭

[crwth]

*snip*

Don't get me wrong though, earning money is great; because who doesn't want money right? But unfortunately there's little to no interest outside monetary reasons.

Hah. Unfortunately I haven't met other passionate people yet. I would definitely love to meet people that are also into this space, but at the same time, I really wouldn't like to publicly disclose that I hold bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general. The last thing I would want is to be held at gunpoint for my bitcoin LOL.

I understand some people want it for the money. It is great to earn money and at the same time do what you want, like interacting here in this forum.

That's overthinking of you, in my opinion. I guess that's the purpose of adding multilayered security and probably putting backup and providing a great password could help you protect that. I think it's not that bad to say that you have some cryptocurrency. Maybe you are saying that because you are a BTC Whale

[ribowo76]

Maybe that's what becomes a dilemma for us, behind the increasing number of people who enter the world of bitcoin or crypto. Most are still thinking about profits or "sudden riches". Maybe only a few really think about the actual functions of bitcoin or crypto

[mk4]

That's overthinking of you, in my opinion. I guess that's the purpose of adding multilayered security and probably putting backup and providing a great password could help you protect that. I think it's not that bad to say that you have some cryptocurrency.

I'm referring more to a sort of a sort of criminal breaking into my house doing a sort of "open that ledger Nano S and send me your funds or I blow your brains out" method. Definitely very very unlikely for that to happen right now due to bitcoin not 100% known by everyone, but I'm definitely not taking any chances whatsoever.

Maybe you are saying that because you are a BTC Whale

Hah. I wish.

[crwth]

I'm referring more to a sort of a sort of criminal breaking into my house doing a sort of "open that ledger Nano S and send me your funds or I blow your brains out" method. Definitely very very unlikely for that to happen right now due to bitcoin not 100% known by everyone, but I'm definitely not taking any chances whatsoever.

I guess so. When I read this, what I remembered was the VeraCrypt. It's a locking software where you could input a fake password, and open a fake folder. Maybe it could be implemented by different wallet softwares like Electrum. Not sure if they have that already. I understand with what you are thinking about. Do you have any resources where it happened already? Probably in the US.

Maybe you are saying that because you are a BTC Whale

Hah. I wish.

That's what they ALL say.  

[mk4]

I guess so. When I read this, what I remembered was the VeraCrypt. It's a locking software where you could input a fake password, and open a fake folder. Maybe it could be implemented by different wallet softwares like Electrum. Not sure if they have that already. I understand with what you are thinking about. Do you have any resources where it happened already? Probably in the US.

Ledger wallets has a sort of similar feature to this; the 25th seed phrase. Very useful feature indeed.

I don't have a news source for such a crime unfortunately(or fortunately, lol); but instances like this wouldn't definitely be farfetched from happening, especially as time goes as bitcoin gains more recognition. But yea, definitely most likely to happen in the US and countries that has higher bitcoin adoption.

That's what they ALL say.  

Man, I honestly wouldn't be in the Philippines right now if I had a huge stack of bitcoin.

[santiPOGI]

What is the development with the CEZA now?
Bitcoin is really getting more popular with Filipino people and mostly in age 20s.
I saw in supermarkets and fastfoodchain that they are accepting GCASH and PAYMAY! why there is no COINS.PH?

[mk4]

What is the development with the CEZA now?

If you're referring to the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, then I have zero idea.

I saw in supermarkets and fastfoodchain that they are accepting GCASH and PAYMAY! why there is no COINS.PH?

Definitely. Slowly turning into a cashless society indeed; though people barely use it. I really haven't seen a single person pay using GCASH and PayMaya on physical stores. Why don't they accept Coins.ph? No idea. It's most likely just that they don't have negotiations yet, or Coins.ph probably hasn't attempted to contact Robinsons stores yet.

[izanagi narukami]

Just want to know, do your government legalize crypto ?
Is there any supermarket or restaurant already accept crypto ?

How is your people's response about crypto in the future ? ( especially when current market is on downtrending )

[crwth]

Ledger wallets has a sort of similar feature to this; the 25th seed phrase. Very useful feature indeed.

I don't have a news source for such a crime unfortunately(or fortunately, lol); but instances like this wouldn't definitely be farfetched from happening, especially as time goes as bitcoin gains more recognition. But yea, definitely most likely to happen in the US and countries that has higher bitcoin adoption.

Hmm, I haven’t tried buying a ledger. I was asking about Trezor about a year ago on who has that wallet because I’m thinking of getting that. But in the end, I just end up using one of my old laptops to be used as a cold storage.

I hope no crime of such happens, but knowing here in the Philippines, there would be people who would be capitalizing on that, knowing if you hodl bitcoin or something. I guess I understand what you mean.

Man, I honestly wouldn't be in the Philippines right now if I had a huge stack of bitcoin.

Same feeling. Or even better yet, I wouldn’t be working my ass off if have that kind of Bitcoin too.  

[mk4]

Just want to know, do your government legalize crypto ?

Already answered this on the main post on this topic.

Is there any supermarket or restaurant already accept crypto ?

There's a very small number that do, but I'm quite sure barely anyone pays with it.

How is your people's response about crypto in the future ? ( especially when current market is on downtrending )

Well, prices are down so most people are out. In the future though? It depends a lot on what the price is in the near future. Like I said, only a very small minority are actually truly interested and passionate with bitcoin. Most are just in the space for monetary reasons,; shilling referral links and stuff on social media.

[eagle10]

The state of bitcoin in the Philippines are just fine although there were those who are using it to scam other people, it is still the number one in the get rich quick scheme list. However, the government are really serious trying to pinned those scammers to avoid more future scams involving bitcoin. I just don't know if it is because bitcoin is slowly climbing to be known or some wants to tag it as scam also. It's sad because when the news hit the TV news, they are saying bitcoin itself is a scam while it is the scammers itself is the scam who are using bitcoin to scam.  I hope it won't happen again.

[mk4]

*snip*

Well, you pretty much just rephrased almost everything I said in the main topic. Thanks?

[sheenshane]

snip-

How is your people's response about crypto in the future ? ( especially when current market is on downtrending )

Well, prices are down so most people are out. In the future though? It depends a lot on what the price is in the near future. Like I said, only a very small minority are actually truly interested and passionate with bitcoin. Most are just in the space for monetary reasons,; shilling referral links and stuff on social media.

I also come from the Philippines, that was I've noticed too even my friends they did not care the Bitcoin currency that have a good technology, they much preferred to convert fiat than holding and waiting when the market recovering from the downtrend and yes, one of the main reason is monetary purposes.

Those people who are passionate in Bitcoin are a real crypto enthusiast, they know much better Bitcoin is profitable in the future. (I belong to this group of people).

snip-
Actually, I'm also looking for an article regarding this about few minutes ago but I can't find one. But as far as I remembered, I already read a post about this in our local board section and what I've understand is that Cebuana Lhuiller will focused more on XRP that's why they will no longer accept btc withdrawals soon....

You're right mate, as far as I know, they preferred to use Ripplenet product than Bitcoin blockchain since Bitcoin is not centralized to our government. Maybe they've to care for their reputations as the best remittance industry and transfer their partnership to Ripplenet Blockchain.

[plvbob0070]

I'm curious about how you personally feel about people who are skeptics and all they believe is the negative news that surrounds Bitcoin. What can you say about that?

Personally, I have encountered a lot of people who are like that, and it somewhat makes me feel shy or just wants to skip that topic because they don't understand it or don't want to. Just a random thought. Thanks in advance!

Well, all I can say that it's very unfortunate and very annoying that people act, think, and come up with conclusions this way. To be completely fair though, it's not only the filipinos, but pretty much everyone. Instead of them actually doing their own research on a specific topic/issue to form their opinion in a more educated manner, they simply just make conclusions based on the headlines of a certain news or news article alone. So, yea. Really not surprised how most people(not only filipinos) think that bitcoin is a scam or something that's being used solely by criminals.

Well it's really inevitable for people to be skeptical about things. And I agree with you, they're being skeptic but they don't really do any research to prove things first before making a conclusion. It's just hard to explain things when people tend to believe on what they think is right and what they want to believe. Since most people think that way, other will also think the same without really trying to understand it.

[Naida_BR]

*snip*

Don't get me wrong though, earning money is great; because who doesn't want money right? But unfortunately there's little to no interest outside monetary reasons.

Hah. Unfortunately I haven't met other passionate people yet. I would definitely love to meet people that are also into this space, but at the same time, I really wouldn't like to publicly disclose that I hold bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general. The last thing I would want is to be held at gunpoint for my bitcoin LOL.

I agree that no one wants to disclose such information about how many money he holds etc. However, I am not afraid to tell anybody that I am involved in cryptocurrencies. I think it is better to say that in order to attract more people into the ecosystem. Is there any specific reason you are afraid of? For example, was there any incident in the Philippines similar to this event?

[mk4]

I agree that no one wants to disclose such information about how many money he holds etc. However, I am not afraid to tell anybody that I am involved in cryptocurrencies. I think it is better to say that in order to attract more people into the ecosystem. Is there any specific reason you are afraid of? For example, was there any incident in the Philippines similar to this event?

I don't think there are any documented events concerning sort of robberies and bitcoin/cryptocurrencies, but anyway, here are my reasons:

1. Like I said a few times in this thread, to prevent any sort of robbery or theft.
2. If bitcoin or cryptocurrencies would skyrocket in price once again in the future, I wouldn't want people I know going to me asking for money or as well call, "balato". One of the worst filipino traditions in my opinion.
3. Like point #2, if bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general would rise again in price, I really wouldn't want people to think of me as a financially wealthy or a "rich" person; as I love going on walks in random places in cities and going on commutes.
4. I wouldn't want to be affiliated with bitcoin or cryptocurrencies if ever the Philippine government would implement a ban on bitcoin or cryptocurrencies.

Point #1 and #4 is very unlikely, but then again, I'm NOT going to take any chances, knowing that my family could potentially be involved. Better safe than sorry. I only pretty much disclose that I'm into bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general to very close friends of mine, and only when necessary.

[theyoungmillionaire]

2. If bitcoin or cryptocurrencies would skyrocket in price once again in the future, I wouldn't want people I know going to me asking for money or as well call, "balato". One of the worst filipino traditions in my opinion.

Plus, you will get more family members and friends. Filipinos have this attitude that when someone is famous or have something in life, they tend to say He/She is my family member and the old family free will just pop up, but, they are not even there during your off seasons in life. Even just a maid by some famous celebrities Filipinos make it as a headline.

Talking about bitcoin or cryptocurrency to other people here: some will just say it is too low and kind of negative about it right now. When the price skyrocket? It is too high now, I can’t even afford to get into crypto world. Even worst, they will say you’re lucky you get into crypto while it is low. Come on, we already told you before to buy now - No one listen.

It has been said that “Be your own bank” and use crypto. It only means you’re 100% responsible for your holdings not a bank, any government or any third party. People are not ready to go decentralization and 100% ownership – yes, when it is mooning. It is not going to the moon or facing problems – then where’s the government, company, refunds, etc. What people forgot, company or exchanges is not the owner of bitcoin or cryptocurrency. It is running on its own blockchain, distributed to thousands -  it is decentralized with no central ownership or a server, it’s all people’s computers = nodes. Which only proves that not only Filipinos having these doubts on losing money and where to refund it, it is just one major problem facing cryptocurrency revolution as a whole.

[mk4]

Plus, you will get more family members and friends. Filipinos have this attitude that when someone is famous or have something in life, they tend to say He/She is my family member and the old family free will just pop up, but, they are not even there during your off seasons in life. Even just a maid by some famous celebrities Filipinos make it as a headline.

Exactly. Definitely one of the worst filipino traditions. So much people and "family and friends" asking for "balato" that you might as well give away everything you've earned. Hence I really prefer financial anonymity(for a lack of a better word).

Talking about bitcoin or cryptocurrency to other people here: some will just say it is too low and kind of negative about it right now. When the price skyrocket? It is too high now, I can’t even afford to get into crypto world. Even worst, they will say you’re lucky you get into crypto while it is low. Come on, we already told you before to buy now - No one listen.

Yea. Experienced something similar. After talking for a few minutes describing bitcoin and what it's for, as a friend of mine who was looking interested asked about it. Ended up getting a sort of "when moon" question.

[BLAST2MARS]

In my opinion, the current state of bitcoin here has gone quiet. People has lost the excitement about it and some who I knew that praised it before has already exited out. I still see some articles of some groups that focuses on good projects like nem and loyal coin but they don't seem to make a lot of people interested anymore.

[mk4]

I still see some articles of some groups that focuses on good projects like nem and loyal coin but they don't seem to make a lot of people interested anymore.

Forgot to mention this. I'm actually surprised there has been sort of development "workshops" last year concerning NEM. I've seen a few people with NEM shirts too. Looks like they're roaming around countries trying to get people to the blockchain industry; which is nice I guess. I'm not sure what NEM is for though; haven't really done my research on it yet.