Coins.ph said Wednesday that it maintains its license from the Philippines' central bank following reports suggesting potential revocation over alleged transactions involving restricted offshore gambling operators.
The exchange, one of the largest crypto platforms in the Philippines with approximately $52 million in 24-hour spot trading volume on Wednesday, issued the statement after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) imposed restrictions on incoming InstaPay and PESONet transfers to DCPay Philippines, the entity operating Coins.ph's peso e-wallet services.
Company Response
In an official statement, Coins.ph said: "Coins.ph firmly denies any claim that it knowingly serves offshore gaming or gambling operators. Our users' funds are safe; we continue to operate as a BSP-licensed institution."
When pressed on whether the platform had processed transactions involving offshore gambling operators regardless of awareness, a company spokesperson told Cointelegraph they would seek internal clarification but provided no additional information at that time.
Scope of BSP Restrictions
The BSP instructed Coins.ph to strengthen internal controls. Cash-in services and QRPh collections were temporarily unavailable, while crypto trading, cash-outs, bill payments and merchant QRPh payments remained accessible. QRPh payments operate under the central bank's national QR standard.
The restrictions targeted DCPay's payment operations rather than Betur Inc., which operates the exchange's crypto asset services under a separate virtual asset service provider license, according to local reports.
Regulatory Context
In 2025, the central bank ordered supervised financial institutions to remove links providing access to gambling websites from their payment applications. The BSP has not publicly connected that directive to the Coins.ph restrictions.
Cointelegraph sought comment from the BSP regarding the matter. A central bank representative said they would review the inquiry but had not provided further response at publication time.
