The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is awaiting a nod from regulators to start cryptocurrency trading, CNN has reported. PSE President and CEO Ramon Monzon believes that the bourse is ideal for crypto trading owing to its existing trading infrastructure and customer safeguard measures.

He told CNN,

“If there should be any exchange for cryptos, it should be done at the PSE. Why? Number one, it’s because we have the trading infrastructure. But more importantly, we’ll be able to have investor protection safeguards especially with a product like crypto.”

Over the past few years the Philippine central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), has licensed 17 crypto exchanges. These include Bitan Moneytech, Coinville Phils Inc., Rebittance Virtual Currency Philippines, and Bexpress. The move was driven by the increasing interest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies since last year.

Bitcoin experienced a record-breaking bull run that drove its prices to over US$ 60,000 earlier this year. While the prices have nearly halved currently, bitcoin investors remain bullish.

Cryptocurrencies are “an asset class that we cannot ignore anymore,” Monzon said. The top PSE management discussed the idea during a meeting last month, he added.

The Philippines has emerged as one of the fastest adopters of cryptocurrencies, with exchanges reporting nearly a 70-fold increase in transactions since last year.

Monzon, however, believes that cryptocurrencies have no fundamentals. According to him, the high volatility and opportunities for massive capital gains make cryptocurrencies attractive to investors. But this volatility also increases the risk of heavy losses, Monzon warned.

The bourse is currently waiting for a green light from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Monzon said. In 2019, the SEC had announced that it will release draft guidelines for crypto exchanges. Last year, the SEC had said that it already has draft regulations in place, along with public comments, and is waiting to finalise them. The regulator, however, has not issued any rules yet.

Earlier this year, the central bank released new guidelines for crypto exchanges. The guidelines require crypto exchanges to register as remittance and transfer companies and implement anti-money laundering and consumer protection measures.

The PSE’s entry into the crypto space could go a long way towards strengthening consumer confidence as well as reducing crypto frauds.

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