The Philippines is tightening its grip on crypto markets once again.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued new coin and token listing guidelines requiring all licensed Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) to implement rigorous due diligence and accreditation processes before offering digital assets to customers.
The latest memorandum requires exchanges to conduct ongoing monitoring of listed assets and establish thresholds that could trigger suspensions or delistings.
"This is long overdue, and I think this is the right call. I don't think this is bureaucratic red tape; this is the minimum bar any responsible platform should already be applying before listing an asset to retail users," Alden Yburan, head of crypto at GCash, told Decrypt. "Stronger listing standards would lead to better products."
"On the other hand, PH is remittance-heavy, we can't be positioning the ecosystem as a trusted financial infra while simultaneously allowing anonymity-enhancing assets to flow freely," he added.
VASPs must also monitor listed assets on an ongoing basis and define thresholds that trigger delisting, such as covering loss of liquidity, insolvency of the issuer, involvement in a scandal or scam, de-pegging, material security breaches, or misleading disclosures.
The memo notes that platforms may have to answer to securities regulators in parallel, requiring compliance with "the SEC's CASP Rules and Guidance" should a token be offered as a security.
Two regulators, two frameworksThe listing rules slot into a system where crypto firms answer to two separate authorities.
The SEC governs crypto-asset service providers on the securities side; the BSP licenses VASPs for payment and transaction rails. Firms must satisfy both independently.
But the BSP has stated that neither Binance nor BlockShoals holds a VASP license, and that sandbox participation "doesn't substitute for central bank licensing."
