Philippine Central Bank Tightens Cryptocurrency Regulation: Bans Privacy Coins Altogether

BlockBeats News, June 15th. The Central Bank of the Philippines (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, BSP) has released a new Virtual Asset Regulatory Guide. It requires all licensed Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) to establish a strict due diligence and asset review mechanism before listing or trading any cryptocurrency to enhance financial stability and consumer protection.

The new regulation explicitly prohibits "enhanced anonymity virtual assets," meaning privacy coins such as Monero and Zcash, from being listed or traded on compliant platforms. This implies that privacy-focused cryptocurrencies will be removed or disabled from local compliant platforms.

The regulatory document mandates that exchanges continuously monitor listed assets and set criteria for triggering delisting, such as deteriorating liquidity, project team risk events, technical security vulnerabilities, insufficient disclosure, or suspected fraud.

This policy continues the Philippines' tightening of crypto regulations over the past year. Previously, the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) established a framework for licensing crypto asset service providers, requiring local registration, increased capital requirements, and local data storage. Additionally, several overseas exchanges faced access restrictions.

The Philippines currently operates under a "dual regulatory system": the central bank oversees payment and transaction channels (VASPs), while the securities regulator supervises crypto assets with security features. Both compliance frameworks must be met separately. Analysts believe this move will further drive the centralization of local compliant exchanges and accelerate the market's shift to regulated platforms.

BlockBeats previously reported that on May 26th, Binance re-entered the Philippine market in a regulatory-compliant manner through a partnership with a local company, BlockShoals. This collaboration will operate under the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) regulatory sandbox framework, transitioning Binance from a restricted status due to regulatory issues to an officially authorized testing phase.