How to Buy Crypto in the Philippines in 2022

Updated April 27, 2022

With the growing adoption of cryptocurrency in the Philippines, people are learning to use centralized exchanges like Binance. While local e-wallets are starting to incorporate crypto trading like what Coins.ph has started, followed by PDAX and PayMaya. Union Bank has been vocal on adopting crypto trading for their clients.

Web-Based Apps

Bloom X 

BloomX has offered early access to their clients via their app webpage. The platform offers crypto exchanges from fiat (Philippine Peso) to desired cryptocurrency.

Early Access users can trade their fiat to more or less 381 cryptocurrencies. Users can deposit their Fiat using UnionBank Payments through the app. Profile Verification of different cryptocurrencies are available to give the user an idea of what the cryptocurrency is.

For more information on BloomX, BitPinas has articles related to the topic.

Bloom also has OTC (over-the-counter) outlets.

Moneybees (also OTC)

Moneybees offers their clients crypto exchanges through their web based app and other the counter (OTC) locations found within Metro Manila.

Moneybees supports the following wallets: Paylance, Coins.ph, Coinbase, Metamask, Binance, Electrum, Okex, Jaxx Liberty, Trust Wallet and Exodus.

For more about Moneybees, articles from BitPinas are available.

E-Wallets

Coins.ph

Coins.ph has given users with ₱50.00 before as incentive for using the application and referring the application to their friends. With this incentive, Filipinos learned how to trade cryptocurrencies using the application and distribute the profit to other crypto within the app.

With this introduction to cryptocurrency, users can cash in using their bank accounts, other e-wallets and remittances to further learn the basics of buying and selling crypto using Coins.ph. 

As of April 19, the cryptocurrencies Coins.ph caters are Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Chainlink (LINK), Uniswap (UNI), Polygon (MATIC), Tether (USDT), Axie Infinity Shard (AXS), Smooth Love Potion (SLP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ripple (XRP), USD Coin (USDC), Kyber Network Crystal (KNC), Maker (MKR), AAVE and The Sandbox (SAND).

PayMaya

PayMaya has released a beta version of their Crypto feature on their app. Users can now trade their Peso into cryptocurrencies that PayMaya caters. As of April 19, the available cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin (BTC), Polygon (MATIC), Ethereum (ETH), Polkadot (DOT), Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK), Solana (SOL), Uniswap (UNI), Quant (QNT) and Tether (USDT). 

For more BitPinas articles about Paymaya, click on the link.

GCash

Since December 2021, Gcash has considered crypto trading and stocks and GCash users are awaiting for this to materialize. But for the meantime, most GCash users buy cryptocurrencies using the peer-to-peer (P2P) trading of Binance. Buyers would send their payment to merchants through GCash and in return the merchant releases their crypto assets to the Binance account of the buyer.

(Note that GCash does not have a VASP license as per the BSP website updated March 31, 2022.)

Centralized Exchanges

PDAX

Filipinos can cash in to PDAX with their bank accounts and e-wallets to trade it with the cryptocurrencies that PDAX caters to.

For more BitPinas articles related to PDAX, click on the link.

Binance

With the growth of blockchain gaming in 2021, most players are advised to download Binance for them to cash out their earnings. Users of Binance usually use the peer-to-peer (P2P) trading for them to either convert their crypto earnings into Peso or Peso into crypto like USDT, BNB and SLP. The requirements of users to be able to cash out is to get verified by submitting their valid government issued identification cards and biometrics (face scan) to be able to use the feature.

As a sample of this is on how Axie Infinity users cash out their earnings through Binance. Binance is not limited to Axie Infinity alone, but with other blockchain games available in the Binance Smartchain and other networks as well.

Users of Binance can also convert and trade their USDT, BNB and SLP to other cryptocurrencies that Binance caters to diversify their portfolio and may stake the asset to profit.

(Note that Binance does not have a VASP license as per the BSP website updated March 31, 2022.)

Coinbase

For NBA Top Shot card traders and enthusiasts, Coinbase is the main channel for them to purchase their starter packs and cards. Unless they will use a credit or debit card to purchase directly.

But for Coinbase, users have to top up using their debit or credit card to be able to buy cryptocurrencies or transfer their assets from Binance to Coinbase to be able to purchase NBA Top Shot. Because Coinbase is a centralized exchange, Know Your Customer (KYC) verification is required to be able to optimize the use of its services.

Coinbase has features also to trade cryptocurrencies and observe the trend of the market.

Coinbase Institutional has also partnered with PayMaya for PayMaya users to enjoy using their new feature and trade cryptocurrencies within the PayMaya app. (Note that Coinbase does not have a VASP license as per the BSP website updated March 31, 2022.)

Important: Online Banking

UnionBank

With an interview with Arvie de Vera, co-founder and CEO of UnionDigital, they expressed their intent of entering crypto trading as well. As UnionBank clients await this integration, users buy cryptocurrencies via Binance’s P2P trading, as well.

For more BitPinas articles in relation to Union Bank, click on the link.

With the availability of centralized exchanges like Binance and Coinbase, e-wallets like Coins.ph, PDAX, PayMaya and GCash and online banking through UnionBank, Filipinos have options to buy cryptocurrencies whether they have a bank account or not. 

This only reflects that Filipinos are interested in going deeper into the trade and finding ways to earn more especially during the pandemic which catalyzed the interest of going into crypto. And services from the applications mentioned gave an open door for more Filipinos to invest into cryptocurrency. But as always been advised to those who are going into the trade to always do their due diligence in researching about the different cryptocurrencies and even the applications mentioned before investing in cryptocurrencies.

This article is published on BitPinas: How to Buy Crypto in the Philippines in 2022

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.