Licensed Crypto Exchange DA5, Gurufin Launch Peso Stablecoin

• Direct Agent 5, Inc. (DA5) collaborated with Gurufin to launch the PHMU stablecoin.
• PHMU will be pegged to the Philippine peso.
• The stablecoin will be launched within the combined ecosystems of DA5 and Gurufin; it will initially be available in the SurgePay Community Wallet.

Aiming to expedite the money transfer process in the country, money service business Direct Agent 5, Inc. (DA5) introduced the PHMU stablecoin project. It was formalized during DA5’s partnership with Gurufin, a Layer-1 Hybrid Mainnet that claims to integrate real-economy payment services with blockchain technology, on August 9, 2023.

What is PHMU Stablecoin

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that are linked to a reference asset, such as a fiat currency, exchange-traded commodities, or another cryptocurrency. This means their value is intended to remain constant, as it is pegged to a reference asset. The PHMU stablecoin is backed by the Philippine Peso at a 1:1 ratio.

(Read: What are Stablecoins? An Introduction, Description, and Use Cases)

Together with Gurufin, DA5 assured its users in a statement that the project will provide consistent transaction costs, not subject to the volatile gas fees associated with other major chains, as it runs on its own Layer 1 chain.

“PHMU’s standout feature lies in its full fiat-backing by the Philippine Peso, with real-time verification capabilities,” the money service business emphasized. “This revolutionary coin transcends existing stablecoin standards by ensuring compliance with all requisite legal frameworks and licensing, paving the way for genuine scalability and broad application.”

DA5, a known Philippine Western Union Agent, is licensed as a virtual asset service provider (VASP), electronic money issuer (EMI), and provider of electronic payment and financial services (EPFS) by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Moreover, the stablecoin is scheduled to be launched within the combined ecosystems of DA5 and Gurufin and will initially be featured in the SurgePay Community Wallet. Following this, it will be accessible across DA5’s more than 1,800 branches.

“Leveraging the pinnacle of technological innovation, DA5 remains unwavering in its commitment to offering Filipinos the safest, most efficient means of transferring money to the Philippines,” 

Raymond Babst, DA5 President and CEO

Stablecoins in the Philippines

Stablecoins pegged to the Philippine Peso may not yet be widely popular in the country.

In 2019, UnionBank of the Philippines launched the stablecoin PHX to facilitate cross-border remittance transactions on a blockchain. The move made UnionBank the first bank in the country to launch a stablecoin and conduct remittances via blockchain. 

During its launch, the bank expressed its plans to make PHX usable on various platforms and wallets globally.

Meanwhile, UnionDigital Bank, a subsidiary of UnionBank in the Philippines, also announced its plans to launch the Philippine Peso UnionDigital stablecoin (PHD). 

The stablecoin will bear the ticker symbol ‘PHD.’

In August 2022, Cebu City Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia revealed that the city, in collaboration with C Pass Inc., has been developing C-Peso, a stablecoin aiming to be a way to promote cashless payments in the city. Garcia said the coin has entered the third stage of the registration process for Virtual Asset Service Providers at that time. 

Then in March, C PASS secured a license to extend its send-and-receive cryptocurrency operation on the European continent, the virtual asset firm confirmed.

“This will enable users to send, receive, and swap cryptocurrency within the European Union and those based elsewhere but transacting with clients there,”

Charlie Seo, C PASS Vice President

Banco De Oro (BDO), the largest bank in the country, recently participated in a pilot program examining the use of stablecoins, in this case Central Bank Digital Currencies, in remittances between the U.S. and the Philippines.

In September last year, during a panel discussion at Forkast’s “Crypto Rising: CBDCs & Stablecoins: The Asia Perspective”, BSP Director Mhel Plabasan emphasized that the central bank sees stablecoins as a plausible solution for more efficient payment transactions in the country. 

“We have seen it really has the potential to revolutionize both domestic and cross-border payment more affordable, faster, and even the possibility of using stablecoins to make cross-border remittance efficient,”

Mhel Plabasan, Director at BSP

This article is published on BitPinas: DA5, GuruFin Introduces PHMU: A Peso-Backed Stablecoin

Disclaimer: BitPinas articles and its external content are not financial advice. The team serves to deliver independent, unbiased news to provide information for Philippine-crypto and beyond.