Crypto Trading Still A Very Personal Process in the Philippines

Share some Bitpinas love:

January 29, 2021 —  Amid record high cryptocurrency prices as of late, crypto trading in the Philippines continues to be “very personal” according to Luis Buenaventura, Chief Strategic Officer of BloomX, a licensed virtual currency exchange in the Philippines.

2020 might have been a pivotal year for many industries, and in crypto, it’s the year where institutions have started putting Bitcoin in their portfolios. Pandemic notwithstanding, transaction volume in peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto marketplaces in the Philippines have increased in 2020 compared to the previous years. Despite assertions that global P2P transactions have decreased amid rising Bitcoin prices, there are countries where the opposite is true. 

Growth of P2P Exchanges

Paxful has hit record volumes in the Philippines in 2020, beating its rival LocalBitcoins for market leadership. Paxful has been the gateway for many to first exchange cash into Bitcoin, facilitating retail and institutional trading on the platform. With more than 300 ways to purchase Bitcoin and a global marketplace of traders, Paxful facilitated record volume in the country in the last twelve months. The Philippines is Paxful’s 3rd largest market in Asia behind China and India.

Binance P2P’s entry in the Philippines has eliminated the friction of trying to send crypto to the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The usual route — converting peso to XRP before sending to Binance, then converting that XRP to USDT — has been reduced to one step: Find a local seller on Binance and trade PHP for BTC direct. The exchange declined to share numbers, but said they are the biggest marketplace in Southeast Asia today.

Other international exchanges also have some form of P2P. OKEx has a cash-in P2P route, though a local representative said a cash-out option will be available soon.

Crypto Trading – Still a Personal Process in the Philippines

The increase in Bitcoin’s price in the last few weeks have coincided with a larger market rally, as other cryptocurrencies have also increased their prices as of late. This coincided with a decrease in volume in Paxful and LocalBitcoins in the last two months in the country. It is possible that users are just holding Bitcoin or might have moved to cryptocurrency exchanges or even direct exchanges despite higher spread. Some have also moved to decentralized exchanges like Uniswap where decentralized finance and play-to-earn models thrive.

After all, if there is an expectation that the value will go up in the future, purchasing it today will amount to future profit.

Still Luis Buenaventura offered a different view on the subject. For him, it’s possible that users have simply moved on from exchanges and P2Ps and proceeded to trade amongst themselves. “The most obvious reason for this decline is that crypto trading in the Philippines is still a very personal and informal business process,” he said, sharing that traders who might have met in marketplaces might eventually prefer to deal with each other directly, eliminating fees and marketplaces requirements.

This can also be observed on local Facebook groups, where there are profiles advertising themselves as “the person or entity” behind a P2P trader and offers direct trading instead, away from the marketplaces. 

What Luis has described is the increasing sophistication of the Filipino cryptocurrency trader or holder. Beginners are usually advised to start using “newbie” friendly crypto apps like Coins.ph. After observing the market, the beginner realizes they can save fees by going to P2P marketplaces. Finally the beginner becomes comfortable and proceeds on cryptocurrency exchanges, local or otherwise or becomes sophisticated in arbitrage on P2P marketplaces, with some of them trying decentralized finance.

P2P will remain important in the onboarding of new users into crypto. For Luis, he said his company will continue to be one of the most active vendor on Paxful.com and will probably re-list in Binance soon. “We think these formal marketplaces are a great way to introduce new users into crypto,” he concluded.

This article is published on BitPinas: Crypto Trading Still  A Very Personal Process in the Philippines

Share some Bitpinas love:

What do you think of this article?

Let us know in the comments below.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
23 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

[…] This text is revealed on BitPinas: Crypto Trading Still  A Very Personal Process in the Philippines […]

[…] Some quotes from our article yesterday:  […]

[…] Some quotes from our article:  […]

[…] Some quotes from our article:  […]

[…] P2P Bitcoin Transaction Volume increased immensely in 2020 […]

[…] P2P Bitcoin Transaction Volume increased immensely in 2020 […]

[…] There are also exchanges that offer a direct exchange of the person’s cash in exchange for crypto or vice versa. Of course peer-to-peer marketplaces that serve as escrow for the buyers and sellers to negotiate remain popular. Finally, there is trading that happens between peers amongst themselves away from marketplaces and exchanges. […]

[…] There are also exchanges that offer a direct exchange of the person’s cash in exchange for crypto or vice versa. Of course peer-to-peer marketplaces that serve as escrow for the buyers and sellers to negotiate remain popular. Finally, there is trading that happens between peers amongst themselves away from marketplaces and exchanges. […]

[…] There are also exchanges that offer a direct exchange of the person’s cash in exchange for crypto or vice versa. Of course peer-to-peer marketplaces that serve as escrow for the buyers and sellers to negotiate remain popular. Finally, there is trading that happens between peers amongst themselves away from marketplaces and exchanges. […]

[…] There are also exchanges that offer a direct exchange of the person’s cash in exchange for crypto or vice versa. Of course peer-to-peer marketplaces that serve as escrow for the buyers and sellers to negotiate remain popular. Finally, there is trading that happens between peers amongst themselves away from marketplaces and exchanges. […]

[…] There are also exchanges that offer a direct exchange of the person’s cash in exchange for crypto or vice versa. Of course peer-to-peer marketplaces that serve as escrow for the buyers and sellers to negotiate remain popular. Finally, there is trading that happens between peers amongst themselves away from marketplaces and exchanges. […]

[…] There are also exchanges that offer a direct exchange of the person’s cash in exchange for crypto or vice versa. Of course peer-to-peer marketplaces that serve as escrow for the buyers and sellers to negotiate remain popular. Finally, there is trading that happens between peers amongst themselves away from marketplaces and exchanges. […]

[…] There are also exchanges that offer a direct exchange of the person’s cash in exchange for crypto or vice versa. Of course peer-to-peer marketplaces that serve as escrow for the buyers and sellers to negotiate remain popular. Finally, there is trading that happens between peers amongst themselves away from marketplaces and exchanges. […]

… [Trackback]

[…] Find More Info here to that Topic: bitpinas.com/news/crypto-trading-still-a-very-personal-process-in-the-philippines/ […]

trackback

… [Trackback]

[…] Read More on to that Topic: bitpinas.com/news/crypto-trading-still-a-very-personal-process-in-the-philippines/ […]

[…] Data-centric website “Coin Dance” shows that Paxful, a global cryptocurrency P2P exchange, has experienced exponential growth in the Philippines. (Read More: Crypto Trading Still A Very Personal Process in the Philippines) […]

[…] Data-centric website “Coin Dance” shows that Paxful, a global cryptocurrency P2P exchange, has experienced exponential growth in the Philippines. (Read More: Crypto Trading Still A Very Personal Process in the Philippines) […]

[…] Knowledge-centric web site “Coin Dance” reveals that Paxful, a world cryptocurrency P2P trade, has skilled exponential progress within the Philippines. (Learn Extra: Crypto Trading Still A Very Personal Process in the Philippines) […]

[…] Data-centric website “Coin Dance” shows that Paxful, a global cryptocurrency P2P exchange, has experienced exponential growth in the Philippines. (Read More: Crypto Trading Still A Very Personal Process in the Philippines) […]

… [Trackback]

[…] Info on that Topic: bitpinas.com/news/crypto-trading-still-a-very-personal-process-in-the-philippines/ […]

trackback

… [Trackback]

[…] Read More on that Topic: bitpinas.com/news/crypto-trading-still-a-very-personal-process-in-the-philippines/ […]

trackback

… [Trackback]

[…] Read More on that Topic: bitpinas.com/news/crypto-trading-still-a-very-personal-process-in-the-philippines/ […]

Michael Mislos

A business ad graduate from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Mike is the website manager of Bitpinas.com. He is responsible for almost every content you see on the site, from topic/news selection to editing of articles. Mike believes correct information about blockchain and cryptocurrency can empower people to make accurate decisions about the industry, which, in turn, should deter bad actors from taking advantage of crypto & blockchain. [Telegram @mikemislos]