The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has cancelled the registration of Atomtrans Tech Corp., a blockchain-supported virtual assets service provider (VASP) without citing the specific reasons.
In a statement on Monday, March 25, BSP’s policy-making arm, the Monetary Board announced the registration cancellation of the named VASP based on its Resolution No. 145.A dated Feb. 1, 2024. This effectively will ban the VASP from operating as a remittance and transfer agent for virtual currency exchange.
“(The Monetary Board) approved the cancellation of ATOMTRANS TECH CORP’s Certificate of Registration to operate as a Remittance and Transfer Company with Type ‘A’ Remittance Agent with Virtual Currency Exchange service, now referred to as Virtual Asset Service Provider, pursuant to Section 902-N, as amended by Circular No. 1108 dated 26 January 2021, in relation to Section 901-N of the Manual of Regulations for Non-Bank Financial Institutions,” according to the BSP.
This is the first VASP that the BSP cancelled the registration for this year.
Last year, in December, it also cancelled the registration of two VASPs -- Coinville Phils Inc. and Bexpress Inc.
Similar with Atomtrans Tech, the two VASPs operate as remittance and transfer companies with a type “A” remittance agent.
The BSP defines virtual assets or VA as any type of digital unit that can be digitally traded, or transferred, and can be used for payment or investment purposes.
It is used as a medium of exchange or a form of digitally stored value created by agreement within the community of VA users. However VAs “are not issued nor guaranteed by any jurisdiction and do not have Iegal tender status.”
Meanwhile, VASPs are entities that offer services or engage in activities that provide facility for the transfer or exchange of VAs, which involve the conduct of one or more of the following activities: exchange between VAs and fiat currencies; exchange between one or more forms of VAs; transfer of VAs; and safekeeping and/or administration of VAs or instruments enabling control over VAs.
The BSP always issue public warnings against transacting with VASPs that are unregistered and domiciled abroad or unknown foreign VA companies.
As of Jan. 10 this year, there are 17 non-bank VASPs registered with the BSP including Atomtrans Tech. Of the 17, only 10 are considered active.