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Southeast Asia / Verified 2026-07-14

Is crypto legal in Philippines?

Legal

Cryptocurrency is legal in the Philippines: buying, holding, trading, and spending crypto through a BSP-licensed Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) or SEC-registered Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) is lawful and actively regulated, though crypto is not recognized as legal tender.

Tax treatment

Property / digital asset — not legal tender; BIR treats crypto analogously to other property rather than currency, with no bespoke statutory 'crypto asset' tax category yet enacted.

The Philippines has no crypto-specific tax code. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) taxes crypto under general property/income tax principles (per RMC 2019-03 and related issuances): gains from frequent or business-like trading are ordinary income taxed at graduated individual rates up to 35% (or standard corporate rates for businesses), with no separate crypto capital-gains regime. Crypto-to-crypto swaps, staking rewards, and mining proceeds are each treated as separate taxable events at fair market value when received.

No dedicated crypto tax form; gains/income are reported as 'Other Income' on standard BIR Form 1701 (self-employed/mixed income) or 1700 (compensation income), due 15 April for the prior calendar year. The Philippines has committed to the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), with automatic exchange of crypto transaction data starting 2028.

Can banks handle crypto here?

BSP-supervised banks and e-money issuers may operate or partner with licensed VASPs — e.g., GCash offers in-app crypto access ('GCrypto') powered by licensed exchange PDAX, and Maya (formerly PayMaya) runs its own licensed crypto service. Banks generally service transfers to/from licensed, BSP-registered VASPs; the real constraint is on new VASP entities getting licensed at all, not on banks dealing with existing licensed players.

Buying and selling crypto in Philippines

On-ramp via BSP-licensed VASPs — Coins.ph, PDAX, Maya, Bloom Solutions (BloomX), Moneybees among roughly a dozen active licensees — funded by bank transfer, GCash, Maya wallet, or cash channels. The Philippines shows unusually high real-world crypto usage versus regional peers, historically driven by the Axie Infinity play-to-earn boom and currently by a large stablecoin-based OFW remittance corridor; BSP-reported overseas remittance inflows run in the tens of billions of dollars annually. Coins.ph's peso-pegged stablecoin PHPC exited the BSP regulatory sandbox in June 2025 with unlimited minting capacity and is being integrated for merchant spending.

Worth knowing

BSP's moratorium on new standalone VASP Certificates of Authority has been in place since 1 September 2022 and remained in effect as of mid-2026; the main path in for new entrants is an existing BSP-supervised bank/e-money issuer adding VASP functions. In June 2026, BSP Memorandum M-2026-023 banned VASPs from listing privacy/anonymity-enhancing coins and imposed new listing due-diligence and delisting rules. SEC separately regulates crypto assets that qualify as securities and CASPs under its May 2025 CASP Rules (SEC MC No. 04-2025).

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FAQ

Do I need a license to trade crypto as an individual in the Philippines?

No — individuals can legally buy, sell, and hold crypto through any BSP-licensed VASP such as Coins.ph, PDAX, or Maya. Licensing requirements apply to the exchanges/businesses, not individual users.

Can new crypto exchanges get licensed in the Philippines right now?

It's difficult. BSP has not accepted new standalone VASP license applications since September 1, 2022. The main route in is to be, or partner with, an existing BSP-supervised bank or e-money issuer adding VASP functions to its license.