GCrypto is Now Available to Select GCash Customers

Update: Check out our guide: Beginners Guide to GCrypto | How to Buy & Sell Crypto on GCash

Editing and Additional Reporting by Nathaniel Cajuday

• GCash’s GCrypto service is now available to its selected users.
• Some of its users posted this to their respective accounts in their own FB timelines and groups, including some web3 content creators. 
• However, some FB users raised their eyebrows over an unconfirmed 5% fee when purchasing crypto. It is after an FB user showed that he bought ₱50.00-worth of Bitcoin, but only ₱47.63-worth of the token was reflected in his account.

February 20, 2023 Update:

The following cryptocurrencies are available on GCrypto as of this writing:

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Tether (USDT)
• USD Coin (USDC)
• Uniswap (UNI)
• Chainlink (LINK)
• Aave (AAVE)
• Basic Attention Token (BAT)
• The Graph Token (GRT)
• Enjin (ENJ)
• Litecoin (LTC)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
• Avalanche (AVAX)
• Polygon (MATIC)
• Polkadot (DOT)        
• Axie Infinity Shards (AXS)
• Smooth Love Potion (SLP)
• Cardano (ADA)
• Solana (SOL)
• Binance Coin (BNB)
• Stellar (XLM)
• SushiSwap (SUSHI)

Original Article Follows:

After more than a year of revealing that they are looking into integrating cryptocurrency into their platform, GCash’s GCrypto Service is now available to selected users. 

In a post by a Facebook user on the Pinoy Crypto Community FB Group, the user showed that he bought ₱50.00-worth of Bitcoin, but only ₱47.63-worth of the token was reflected in his account. 

Users who found out that GCrypto is available for their respective accounts posted this morning in their own FB timelines and groups, which garnered mixed reactions from FB users in the country.

Other commenters also expressed their disappointment because of an alleged 5% fee, which, according to them, is too high.

“Pagbumili ka ng crypto sa kanila, parang binilhan mo sila ng crypto, ‘di sayo ‘yan, sa kanila yan dahil walang wallet at ‘di mo hawak ang key… Kaya kung i-hold nila crypto mo, wala kang magawa dahil sila ang may-ari nyan hahaha. Ang mga ganon, para lang yan sa mga kunwari may crypto sila… Hahahaha. Sa totoong exchange kayo bumili at kung malaki crypto niyo sa non-custodial wallet nyo ilagay,” a commenter insisted. 

GCrypto Timeline 

Before the in-app integration of crypto into Gcash, purchasing bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies using the platform has been available since 2018. (Read more: How to Buy Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Using GCash)

The fintech firm first opened up the topic on May 31, 2021, when GCash President Martha Sazon revealed that she is looking into following PayPal’s move to finally allow the buying and selling of cryptocurrency inside the popular e-wallet.

“While we may be considered a disruptor now, it is important in this digital age that we should be mindful of all types of disruptions out there. It’s important to know what the trends are, whether locally and globally and crypto is part of that,” she stated last year.

After 3 months, on August 21, 2021, Sazon reiterated that they will certainly make cryptocurrency and crypto trading available to its users and disclosed that they are in talks with potential partners. She stressed that Gcash is “looking at it seriously and there’s really a plan to host an entity within our platform to aid in the trading of cryptocurrency so watch out for it soon.” (Read more: GCash Will Really Crypto, Currently in Talks with Potential Partners)

Then, in May 2022, Gcash expressed that they are still unfazed over its rival, Maya, and its digital bank and crypto trading services. They stressed that having a digital banking license is not a “silver bullet or magic” to growth. PayMaya rebranded to Maya to offer crypto to its users, it also secured a digital banking license as well as a virtual asset service provider license (VASP) from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. (Read more: GCash Not Bothered by PayMaya’s Crypto Offerings)

In June, Gcash Head of New Business Neil Trinidad stated that the firm was still working on its crypto products that were set to be “available soon.”

A month after the “available soon” remark, they added a crypto icon or crypto tab in their application that teases that the feature is still “coming soon.” (Read more: Crypto ‘Tab’ Now Available on GCash App, Says Crypto is Coming Soon)

Last month, Trinidad and PDAX CEO Nichel Gaba confirmed to BitPinas that the platform’s crypto buy and sell service will be in partnership with the cryptocurrency exchange PDAX. Trinidad added that Gcash is “currently undergoing internal user testing and is set to launch its GCrypto service very soon. GCash is proud to partner with PDAX in powering GCrypto.” (Read more: GCash Partners with PDAX for GCrypto Trading: Everything You Need to Know So Far)

This article is published on BitPinas: Gcrypto is Now Available to Select GCash Customers

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.