Cryptoupdated 2h ago2 min read
Coins.ph Faces Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Sanctions Over Overseas Gambling Payments
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BSP reviewing sanctions that could revoke Coins.ph license over offshore gambling transactions. BSP imposes deposit restrictions through DCPay Philippines for Coins.ph.
6 outlets told this the same way.
BSP moves against Coins.ph
Coins.ph, the Philippines' largest cryptocurrency exchange, faces possible central bank sanctions from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas over allegations it provided services to overseas gambling operators. Two people familiar with the matter said the BSP began restricting exchange deposits through DCPay Philippines earlier this month, and one described potential license revocation as an "earthquake" that would send shockwaves through the Philippine digital asset ecosystem. Coins.ph has more than 18 million customers and roughly $50 million in 24-hour spot trading volume, and it accounts for approximately 75–80% of trading liquidity between the Philippine peso and stablecoins.
The restrictions trace back to last year, when the BSP required supervised financial institutions to block access to gambling sites within e-wallet apps, and some gambling operators later shifted transactions to Coins.ph. Neither Coins.ph nor the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas responded to requests for comment.
Deposit rails cut, no end
The BSP order reached banks and e-wallets through an advisory from Philippine Payments Management Inc., and it said incoming transfers to Coins.ph wallets over InstaPay and PESONet are now rejected while outbound transfers remain permitted.
Coins.ph's status page listed InstaPay and PESONet cash-ins as under maintenance under an incident opened on Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. Manila time, while cash-outs on both rails were shown as operational.
People familiar with the matter said the curb carries no end date, unlike temporary suspensions the BSP typically imposes when market participants fail to meet throughput or latency requirements.
Coins.ph confirmed that cryptocurrency trading and outgoing transfers remain available despite restrictions on incoming deposits, and the exchange said incoming peso transfers through InstaPay and PESONet would remain temporarily unavailable while it worked to meet the regulator's requirements.
The exchange operates through separate entities, with DCPay Philippines providing electronic money services and Betur Inc. operating the virtual asset business under the Coins.ph brand.
License risk and compliance
Coins.ph's operating license could be revoked depending on the severity of violations, and the allegations trace back to a 2025 BSP circular, M-2025-029, which ordered e-wallet operators to cut in-app access to gambling sites. The departures of compliance staff have raised questions about whether gaps in the compliance organization may have deepened regulatory breaches, and the reporting named Lexi Herrera, Chris Beaño, and Irish Calagi as having left the company this year. The trading business is held by Betur Inc., which appears on the BSP's list of registered virtual asset service providers, and the license for that entity has not been suspended even as cutting off bank cash-ins removes the main way Filipino users fund accounts in pesos.
The stakes extend beyond trading because Coins.ph sits at the centre of a remittance corridor bringing roughly $43 billion a year into the Philippines, where more than 10.8 million Filipinos live abroad. Coins.ph and the BSP have not made a public statement on the restriction, and the key question remains whether the central bank moves from restricting DCPay's payment access to formal action against the VASP license itself.