Coins.ph says it remains fully licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) after media reports raised the possibility of license revocation over allegations involving transactions tied to restricted offshore gambling operators. The Philippine crypto exchange and its payment-related unit, DCPay Philippines, have been placed under heightened scrutiny following BSP-related restrictions tied to local payment rails.
Coins.ph, which CoinGecko lists as one of the Philippines’ largest exchanges, reported about $52 million in 24-hour spot trading volume on Wednesday, according to CoinGecko. The new controversy centers less on its crypto trading services and more on how its peso e-wallet cash-in and related payment features interact with BSP-regulated payment channels.
Key takeaways
- Coins.ph maintains it is still BSP-licensed despite reports of potential license action tied to alleged offshore gambling-related transactions.
- BSP restrictions reportedly targeted cash-in and QRPh-related payment services tied to DCPay Philippines, rather than the exchange’s crypto asset operations.
- Coins.ph says it does not accept or permit offshore gambling operators and says it continuously screens users and transactions per BSP requirements.
- The BSP has issued instructions in 2025 to supervised institutions to remove access to gambling websites from payment apps, but it has not publicly connected that directive to Coins.ph’s current restrictions.
Coins.ph denies serving offshore gambling operators
In a statement shared with Cointelegraph, Coins.ph said it “firmly denies any claim” that it knowingly serves offshore gaming or gambling operators. The company added that its users’ funds are safe and that it continues to operate as a BSP-licensed institution.
When asked whether transactions involving offshore gambling operators had been processed on its platform, a Coins.ph spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the exchange does not accept or permit such operators. The spokesperson also said Coins.ph screens both customers and transactions in line with BSP requirements. However, Coins.ph did not directly confirm or deny whether such transactions had occurred.
BSP-linked payment restrictions affect cash-in and QRPh functions
Coins.ph previously told users that the BSP had instructed it to strengthen internal controls, which led to temporary service disruptions. In an advisory published earlier, Coins.ph said cash-in services and QRPh collections were unavailable for a period, while other features—such as crypto trading, cash-outs, bill payments, and merchant QRPh payments—remained accessible.
QRPh refers to the BSP’s national QR standard used across participating payment ecosystems in the Philippines. By contrast, Coins.ph’s advisory indicated that the limitations were focused on certain cash-in and collection paths, implying operational changes at the interface between the company’s e-money services and regulated payment rails.
BitPinas reported that the restrictions were issued under BSP Monetary Board Resolution No. 839. According to BitPinas, DCPay Philippines holds an electronic money issuer license, while Betur Inc. operates Coins.ph’s crypto asset services under a separate virtual asset service provider license. The reporting suggested the BSP measures were directed at DCPay’s payment operations rather than Betur’s crypto services.
What earlier BSP guidance said—and what remains unclear
Coins.ph’s current situation follows a separate, earlier BSP order in 2025. The BSP directed supervised financial institutions to remove links providing access to gambling websites from their payment applications. While that directive highlights the BSP’s broader approach toward payments connected to gambling access, the BSP has not publicly linked the 2025 guidance to the restrictions currently affecting Coins.ph’s payment functions.
Cointelegraph also sought comment from the BSP. A central bank representative said they would look into the inquiry but had not provided additional remarks at the time of publication, leaving several questions unanswered for market participants.
Why this distinction matters for users and investors
For Coins.ph customers, the operational split between payment rails and crypto services is central. Coins.ph’s statements—and earlier service adjustments described in its advisory—indicate that crypto trading and cash-out features could continue even when certain cash-in and QRPh collection functions are restricted. That distinction matters because it affects how quickly users can convert between fiat and crypto, and how easily liquidity moves through a platform during periods of regulatory pressure.
For investors and compliance-focused traders, the situation underscores a key risk pattern in regulated crypto markets: regulatory action can be triggered by payment-system behavior and counterpart relationships even when a platform’s core exchange activity is separately licensed. If BSP scrutiny is focused on DCPay’s payment operations, market participants may watch whether changes spread to other functions under the same corporate group—or whether restrictions remain contained to specific cash-in/collection flows.
At the same time, Coins.ph’s refusal to directly confirm whether any alleged offshore-gambling-related transactions occurred leaves uncertainty. The company’s position is clear that it does not accept or permit such operators and that it screens customers and transactions per BSP requirements. Still, the open question is whether past activity—if any—reflected a gap in controls, a compliance misunderstanding, or purely the detection of counterpart patterns that later triggered regulatory intervention.
Going forward, the market will likely focus on two practical signals: whether Coins.ph’s restricted cash-in or QRPh collection services remain limited or are restored, and whether the BSP issues further clarification on what specifically prompted the restrictions under Resolution No. 839. Until the central bank publishes additional details, observers may have to rely on Coins.ph’s disclosures and on subsequent changes to the exchange’s payment-enabled features.
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