The Department of Finance (DOF) said that Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, is not registered with the Philippines’ securities and banking regulators.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said on Thursday, June 9, said Binance is not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a company as well as with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
“For non-registered entities, we issue a reminder to the public regarding dealing with entities not registered with the BSP because they cannot get legal protection from the BSP given that they are not supervised by us,” Dominguez told reporters.
“This is also the case with other online businesses that are domiciled abroad but have a global reach and not registered domestically,” he added.
Founded in 2017 by Chinese-Canadian businessman Changpeng Zhao, Binance is available in over 180 countries with hundreds of token listings and multiple transaction types.
Right now, Zhao said Binance has its eye on the Philippines, citing the country as “super important” for being advanced in payment services, mobile penetration, tech talent, and Filipino’s understanding of crypto.
When Binance enters a market, Zhao listed five things they typically do: Seek regulatory support, recruit talent, investments, education, and charity.
For regulatory support, Zhao said: “We work very closely with governments to either consult or help shape the regulations by giving our best practices, feedback, and know-how from the industry perspective.”