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How to buy Bitcoin in the Philippines

How to easily buy Bitcoin in the Philippines. In terms of regulation, the Asian archipelago has always been at the forefront when it comes to opening up to the cryptocurrency world.

For years now, there have been several local platforms that allow the purchase of BTC directly in local currency. Here are some of them. 

The most popular method to buy Bitcoin in the Philippines: Coins.ph

This is one of the most popular platforms. It allows anyone who does not have a bank account to buy Bitcoin. The user simply has to open an account on Coins.ph and top up that account in some chain stores and services such as 7-Eleven or GCash. 

The local currency ends up in the “peso wallet” where the money can then be converted into Bitcoin. All this without involving bank accounts, credit cards or PayPal.

The ease of use has made Coins.ph one of the most practical systems available. Coins.ph also supports Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Ripple,

The first local exchange: BuyBitcoin.ph

Another well-known portal is BuyBitcoin.ph, which boasts of being the first exchange founded in the Philippines. Unlike Coins.ph it doesn’t have its own wallet but relies on Bitbit.cash, and is linked to banks in order to allow funds to be deposited into the account from which transactions can be made.

Bitcoin ATMs

According to Coinradar, there are 4 Bitcoin ATMs in the Philippines, two are in the capital, Manila, the other two are in Quezon City and Taguig City respectively.

It is worth mentioning that even from the point of view of ATMs, the Philippines appears ahead of its time, as the first Bitcoin ATMs were installed by Union Bank and the Local Central Bank. Which means that cryptocurrencies are well received by regulators.

Localbitcoins

In the Philippines, it is also possible to buy Bitcoin from the Localbitcoins platform. It is not a real exchange, but a system that connects whoever wants to buy or sell BTC. 

When looking at the trading volumes of Bitcoin, it is clear that an impressive peak was reached in 2015. But at the time the price of Bitcoin was much lower than today and it is no coincidence that the equivalent volumes of the local currency indicate a growing increase in trade in recent months, coinciding both with the global economic crisis caused by the Coronavirus and with the halving occurred on May 11th. 

Favourable regulation

The Philippines has a very pro-Bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation. Local authorities are asking exchanges for licenses to operate in addition to compliance with certain procedures aimed in particular at protecting consumers. ICOs must also be registered and must clearly indicate their purpose, design and certification. 

The fact that the local central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and one of the largest local banks such as Union Bank were the driving force behind the installation of ATMs demonstrates the government’s determination to make the Philippines one of the crypto-friendly nations par excellence.

 

Eleonora Spagnolo
Eleonora Spagnolo
Journalist passionate about the web and the digital world. She graduated with honours in Multimedia Publishing at the University La Sapienza in Rome and completed a master's degree in Web and Social Media Marketing.
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