Miko Ilas, Binance Filipino Community, [PH 2019 Crypto & Blockchain Year in Review]

Miko Ilas: The Binance Filipino community looks forward to having more crypto education meetups in areas we haven’t visited before, plus some areas where we have been. We also look forward to being able to score major developments that, ultimately, will lead us to a super-meetup featuring CZ in Manila. *crosses fingers*

January 2, 2020 – Depending on who you ask, 2019 is another turbulent year for the crypto and blockchain industries. Globally, we’ve seen companies refocus their efforts or merge with others to survive. In the Philippines, we’ve read about more pending regulations, developments in the space, and more education drive. BitPinas sought the opinion of people who work in the blockchain and crypto industry in the Philippines, including leaders and influencers here and abroad on what they think about 2019 in general and what they look forward to in 2020.

Miko Ilas is the head of Binance Filipino Community, spearheading awareness for Binance and crypto as a whole through meetups and community support. Miko is a content creator and strategist whose work has been featured on various platforms, such as S&P Capital IQ, SNL Financial, GoBear, Insider Monkey, MyHome, and Appsolutely. With Miko, Binance Filipino Community organized various meetups across cities and provinces in the country last year.

Can you please share the latest developments from your company/project/group this year?

For the Binance Filipino community this year, we’ve held 8 meetups, reaching Manila, Baguio, Cebu, and Davao. We continue building and listening to our community, both online and in-person, wherever they are in the Philippines. We’re one of the most active crypto communities in the country, with 14,000+ community members distributed across Facebook and Telegram.

Photo for the Article - Miko Ilas, Binance Filipino Community, [PH 2019 Crypto & Blockchain Year in Review]
Binance Filipino Community Cebu Meetup

For Binance, 2019 has shown the evolution of the crypto exchange into a full-on blockchain ecosystem. We launched multiple crypto-based financial instruments such as Futures, Margin, Lending, Staking, and more. We showed the way to further crypto adoption with many fiat on-ramps that now reach just about every country in the world. We continued contributing greatly to blockchain development, both by mentoring and investing in numerous startups and by supporting decentralization through Binance DEX.

Please share a personal highlight for you this year in the crypto and blockchain community.

I’ll share two:

First one would be the meetup we organized in April. This is at the height of the launch of Binance DEX, and we set up something that turned out into a spirited debate among the crypto thought leaders of the country on the merits and risks involved with decentralization, from blockchain to other tech fields. This has shown that the Filipino audience is becoming more sophisticated in understanding crypto, moving beyond blind “”when moon”” hopes.

Second one would be the year-end meetup we organized in December. In the middle of the Christmas exodus to the provinces and horrible traffic in Makati, plus a few unexpected developments, we still managed to host a full-house meetup. This has shown the resilience of the Binance community in the Philippines, come bull or bear. Moments like these motivate us further to set up more events and promotions to advocate for financial freedom through blockchain.

What do you think is the most important blockchain and/or crypto development in the Philippines/Globally in 2019?

Photo for the Article - Miko Ilas, Binance Filipino Community, [PH 2019 Crypto & Blockchain Year in Review]
Binance Filipino Community August Meetup

I think the most important development of 2019 is the trend towards corporate and institutional support for crypto. We have seen this locally, with GoJek’s acquisition of Coins.PH and with Cebuana Lhuillier’s investment in SCI Ventures, as well as globally, with Binance’s continued launch of institutional-focused services and solutions. While this development has not been without its fair share of concerns, the more important thing is that there has been a better sense of maturity in the crypto markets, some fluke events notwithstanding.

What is your company/project/group looking forward to this 2020 in this space?

Photo for the Article - Miko Ilas, Binance Filipino Community, [PH 2019 Crypto & Blockchain Year in Review]
Binance Filipino Community December 2019 Meetup

The Binance Filipino community looks forward to having more crypto education meetups in areas we haven’t visited before, plus some areas where we have been. We also look forward to being able to score major developments that, ultimately, will lead us to a super-meetup featuring CZ in Manila. *crosses fingers*

What do you personally look forward to in this space?

I personally look forward to lower fees for all, to more opportunities for Filipinos to be in the blockchain industry, and to have a full team in the Philippines.

What do you see for the Philippines in 2020 in this space?

I see increased attention by the bigger crypto companies to the country. At some point, all the attention to the perceived bigger crypto countries, such as Russia, Turkey, and Indonesia, will lead to full roll-outs of new services. I believe the Philippines will be the next hot spot for these expansionary crypto companies.

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