The government should intensify its crackdown on unlicensed cryptocurrency platforms with financial ties to organized crime syndicates, according to a ranking official of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP).

ECCP ICT Committee co-chair Reyner Villaseñor said that these platforms, which operate without regulatory oversight, are fueling what he calls a “digital crime epidemic.”

“Criminal syndicates are exploiting regulatory gaps to carry out diverse illegal activities, using unlicensed and unregulated cryptocurrency platforms as their tools,” Villaseñor said in a statement.

He said these platforms are enabling criminals to move millions in illicit funds with little to no trace, potentially leading to criminal activities such as kidnappings, human trafficking, large-scale scams, illegal drugs, and illegal gambling operations.

Citing data from the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, Villaseñor said Filipinos have lost an estimated ₱460 billion to online crime last year, equivalent to 1.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), meanwhile, recorded a massive 212 percent year-on-year increase in cybercrime-related losses among supervised financial institutions, totaling ₱5.82 billion in losses.

“These numbers paint a grim picture: the Philippines is now in the midst of a digitally enabled crime epidemic—one that calls for immediate public vigilance, private sector safeguards, and proactive regulatory intervention and law enforcement action,” said Villaseñor.

Without proper regulatory measures, unlicensed cryptocurrency platforms are essentially a haven for criminals to near-total anonymity while committing illegal activities.

Villaseñor recalled the case of Chinese businessman Anson Que, whose ₱ 200 million ransom was converted to cryptocurrency, making tracing efforts difficult. Que was later found dead, alongside his driver.

The ECCP official noted that some of these platforms offer advanced obfuscation tools, such as coin mixers and privacy-centric tokens, which are designed to evade detection.

Foreign-based, unlicensed exchanges, in particular, are cited for their non-cooperation on this matter, often using the veil of jurisdictional loopholes and offshore privacy laws.

Despite advisories and directives from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), they continue to operate in the Philippines, accessible to not only Filipinos but also to foreign criminal syndicates.

“This is not just a regulatory oversight—it’s a national security crisis in the making,” stressed Villaseñor.

With this, he is pushing the government to delist unauthorized crypto platforms swiftly, pursue strict enforcement at the level of the internet service provider, deploy advanced cybercrime tracking technologies, and run a digital literacy campaign.

Villaseñor said the country faces the risk of institutionalizing lawlessness in its digital infrastructure unless decisive action is taken.