Coins.ph, Binance, Maya Highlight Efforts in Digital Asset Adoption in PH
Binance’s Stern, Coins’ Galang, and Maya’s Wong both shared that they are aiming to introduce digital assets in the country.
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Editing by Nathaniel Cajuday
Local fintech industry representatives from leading entities have shared how their firms are introducing and driving the adoption of digital assets among the Filipino masses amid the doubts and skepticism regarding the new technology as well as the current bear market. They tackled this during the country’s first DICT-organized Global Blockchain Summit held last October 26-27, 2022, at the Bataan People’s Center, Balanga City, Bataan.
The members of the panel are Alvin Wong, fintech firm Maya’s Head of Invest; Eprom Galang, crypto wallet Coins.ph Managing Director; and Kenneth Stern, global crypto exchange Binance’s General Manager for the Philippines. Their moderator was Blocktides’ CEO, Myrtle Ramos.
Maya and Coins.ph, being the pioneer local, and the largest, fintech firms in the country, stated that they wanted to increase the adoption rate of blockchain among Filipinos.
“We want to carry that momentum to offer more new instruments for you to easily manage all your transactions. I think we want to raise the two, three percent of people investing in the Philippines to maybe higher… together we can make that happen,” Wong stated, adding that Maya’s focus is to democratize finance so that “everybody can invest as low as one peso.”
Maya has been active in onboarding Filipinos into cryptocurrency since it rebranded from its former name, Paymaya, to include online banking services alongside its e-wallet, cryptocurrency trading, and micro-investments. (Read more: PayMaya Rebrands to “Maya” After Launching Crypto Offering)
The Coins.ph Managing Director, on the other hand, stated that since their platform started as a bitcoin exchange, they are now going back to their roots as they promote and integrate cryptocurrency into their firm:
“It’s not about payments, it’s about how you associate your brand into the new form of digital and phygital emergence.”
Regarding their plans for the Philippines, which they undoubtedly consider one of the largest markets in the world, global crypto exchange Binance revealed that they will focus on three aspects; education, law enforcement trading, and government support.
“We want to work with universities to educate students on the careers in web3, how to trade responsibly, and also (help them) understand the risks involved with crypto. That being said, we also want to focus on law enforcement trading; cybersecurity is an important part in getting into the web3 space. We want to work with the Philippine National Police (PNP), the NBI (National Bureau of Investigations) (and) the Department of Justice (DOJ) to help law enforcement keep strict processes and catch cybercrime. And the last one would be government support, we are the most regulated crypto exchange in the world, we have a lot of position papers, research done, use cases on what works and other jurisdictions; and we would love to be an aid to help the government create framework and draft legislation so that more people can adopt cryptocurrency,” he explained.
Meanwhile, according to Stern, the Philippines has the capacity and potential to become a global blockchain hub. Ramos remarked on her observations in Indonesia on how the government of the country has been supportive of blockchain, adding that she hopes the Philippine government continues to assist local entrepreneurs in spurring mass adoption of crypto and blockchain.
Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao recently visited the local government unit of Bataan to open up a partnership with the LGU to spearhead blockchain initiatives within the province. Aside from this, in his visit in the country last June, CZ introduced the Binance Scholarship, an education program where they will be engaging with universities to recruit interns and, after the students graduate, they can be welcomed to the company. The exchange also conducted a cybercrime education session with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) – Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) in September. (Read more: Bataan Governor Explores Possible Partnership With Binance)
At the same event, the three of them, along with other local web3 industry leaders, established the Web3 Alliance, which signed a solidarity statement, answering the government’s call for action to further improve blockchain adoption in the Philippines. (Read more: Local Web3 Leaders Answers Gov’t Call with Solidarity Statement)
This article is published on BitPinas: Coins.ph, Binance, Maya Highlights Efforts in Digital Asset Adoption in PH
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.
