Philippine SEC cuts access to offshore crypto exchanges

Filipino supervisors have moved to cut access to almost every major global crypto exchange with presence in the country, in a major escalation of his action against non -registered trading platforms.

In an advice issued on Monday, the Filipino SEC warned that foreign platforms that offer crypto services to the Filipino residents without registration violate local legislation.

“These platforms have no license, registration or authorization of the SEC to operate in the Philippines or to ask for investments from the public,” is the advice.

Crypto users in the country were greeted on Wednesday morning with a brand block page when trying to gain access to the websites of various crypto -fairs in the SEC advice, including OKX, MEXC, Bybit, Kucain, Bitget, Coinex, Phemex, Bitmart and Polononex.

The sites were no longer accessible via PLDT, one of the largest internet providers in the country, with the blocked pages that quoted violations of local regulations.

It follows new rules that will be established in June that all crypto service providers must register in the Philippines, announces important information and meets minimum capital thresholds.

Crackdowns on offshore crypto platforms also pick up in Southeast -Asia. In May, Thailand Blokken ordered at five fairs, including Bybit and OKX, after a revision on P2P -Crypto platforms in April. In the meantime, Indonesia has reportedly increased taxes on foreign platforms and tightened the rules for operators without a permit.

The newest advice from the SEC builds on earlier actions against Binance and other offshore platforms, but marks the most radical list of the aforementioned offenders so far. Civil servants warned that the list is “not exhaustive” and that more entities can be added.

While the impact on users unravel, local players are starting to weigh the implications.

Cryptos’s “Named Nationality”

Luis Buenaventura, head of Crypto at Finance Super App GCASH, said that the performance may not stimulate immediately traffic of seasoned users, but the momentum could shift between First-Timers.

“It is important to remember that the existing crypto community in the Philippines is small compared to the rest of the population,” Buenaventura told Decrypt.

There is a “unused majority, who has just started their crypto trips,” he said. This group is especially vulnerable to scams or loss as a result of inexperience, so that their platform must concentrate on beginners education, he added.

Buenaventura recognized growing frustration among users in response to enforcement actions. “What we see is a lot of indignation in the community, with accusations of monopolistic or protectionist agendas that are thrown around,” he said.

Yet he said that the shift will probably benefit the local platforms, because users gradually switch to conforming services.

“If we want to earn the confidence of the community, I would say that” more “collaboration might not be the best answer for now.”