Coins.ph License Unaffected by Central Bank Revocation Claims

Coins.ph Reaffirms Central Bank License Amid Offshore Gambling Probe

MANILA – Digital wallet and cryptocurrency exchange Coins.ph has stated that its license from the Philippine central bank remains valid, despite reports suggesting a potential revocation due to alleged transactions with offshore gambling operators.

Coins.ph, a prominent player in the Philippine crypto market with a reported 24-hour spot trading volume of approximately $52 million on Wednesday, according to CoinGecko, is facing scrutiny. The reported risk to its license follows restrictions imposed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on incoming InstaPay and PESONet transfers linked to DCPay Philippines, the entity responsible for Coins.ph’s peso e-wallet services.

“Coins.ph firmly denies any claim that it knowingly serves offshore gaming or gambling operators,” the company said in an official statement provided to Cointelegraph. “Our users’ funds are safe; we continue to operate as a BSP-licensed institution.”

While Coins.ph denied knowingly facilitating transactions for offshore gambling entities, it did not directly confirm or deny whether such operators had utilized its platform. When pressed on whether it processed transactions involving these operators irrespective of its awareness, a company spokesperson indicated that internal clarification would be sought but offered no further details at that time.

In a prior advisory, Coins.ph had indicated that the BSP had directed it to enhance its internal controls. The company noted that its cash-in services and QRPh collections were temporarily suspended, while crypto trading, cash-outs, bill payments, and merchant QRPh payments remained operational. QRPh payments refer to the central bank’s national QR standard.

Local media outlet BitPinas reported that the restrictions were enacted under BSP Monetary Board Resolution No. 839. DCPay holds an electronic money issuer license, and Betur Inc. manages the exchange’s crypto asset services under a separate virtual asset service provider license. The reported restrictions appear to target DCPay’s payment operations rather than Betur’s cryptocurrency services.

In 2025, the central bank had previously mandated supervised financial institutions to remove links providing access to gambling websites from their payment applications. However, the BSP has not publicly connected this directive to the current restrictions affecting Coins.ph.

Cointelegraph also reached out to the BSP for confirmation and comment. A representative from the central bank stated they would investigate the inquiry but had not provided further remarks by the time of publication.