The Philippines Received 12 Applications for Bitcoin Exchanges

The popularity of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is growing in the Philippines. The Central Bank of the country announced that it has actually received no less than 12 applications for bitcoin exchange registrations. The Central Bank announced that it is currently reviewing those applications.

Media reported that the Central Bank is evaluating the 12 separate applications, which seek to register and legally operate cryptocurrency exchanges in the Philippines. The applications actually come after the Central Bank issued some new regulatory guidelines for bitcoin exchanges in February, 2017.

For the moment, Bitcoin is not actually seen as a currency in the Philippines. In fact, it is regarded to as a financial instrument for remittance services and payments. Previously, experts in the Philippines said that digital currencies are not endorsed as currencies.

Two bitcoin exchanges received license

Two lucky bitcoin exchanges have received licenses for far. These are Rebit Inc and Betur. They are both offering remittance services. The other ten exchanges will probably have to wait for a while and it is yet to see if and when they will get their licenses.

Cryptocurrency, and mostly bitcoin, transactions have increased a lot in the Philippines in the past few months. In fact, the Central Bank has revealed that the value of bitcoin transactions has tripled from $2 million in 2015 to $6 million in 2017. Analysts expect that on average transaction values will reach $8.8 million in the first half of 2018.