Philippine Central Bank Blocks Bank Top-Ups at Coins.ph, the Country's Largest Crypto Exchange: What We Know

What happened

On October 13, 2026, CoinDesk, citing two people familiar with the situation, reported that the central bank of the Philippines (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, BSP) is preparing punitive action against Coins.ph, the country's largest crypto exchange. According to the outlet's sources, the issue is the exchange's dealings with offshore gambling companies. One of them believes the violations are serious enough for the company to lose its license and calls that outcome an "earthquake" for the whole Philippine crypto market.

The central bank has not officially announced any punitive action and had not answered CoinDesk's request for comment by publication time. What is confirmed is something else: since late September, Coins.ph customers have been unable to top up their peso wallet with a bank transfer.

What is restricted and what still works

The restriction targets DCPay Philippines, the group company that issues e-money and runs the Coins.ph peso wallets. According to local outlet BitPinas, the payments association PPMI sent market participants advisory No. 2026-0929-029 at the end of September, and incoming transfers to DCPay were shut off. According to local media, the basis was Monetary Board Resolution No. 839 of the central bank; the board's decisions themselves are not published.

According to a CoinDesk source, the central bank gave no reason, and the restriction has no end date.

For users, it looks like this: money can leave the wallet, but new pesos from a bank cannot come in. Anyone holding pesos or stablecoins on the exchange is not locked in for now. But using the service the way you used to is not really possible either.

Why this matters for the whole Philippine market

Coins.ph has been around for 12 years and, according to CoinDesk, serves more than 18 million customers. Its daily spot trading volume is about $50 million, and more importantly, Coins.ph accounts for roughly 75-80% of the liquidity in peso-to-stablecoin trading inside the country.

The country lives on money sent from abroad. According to the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, more than 10.8 million citizens live overseas, and they send home roughly $43 billion a year. Almost all of that money goes through banks and money transfer services, but for people who receive it in stablecoins, Coins.ph is still the main place to swap them for pesos. If the exchange gets restricted further, that swapping will have to move to other platforms.

In October, regulators have been cracking down on crypto exchanges in general. We covered how South Korea blocked 27 websites of unregistered crypto exchanges and how Sberbank got listed in the Bank of Russia's crypto exchanger registry.

What we know about the allegations

The story about violations rests on anonymous sources so far. Here is what we know:

• according to CoinDesk's sources, several gambling companies serving foreign customers moved to Coins.ph and used it to get access to crypto and stablecoins to make payments abroad;
• as CoinDesk reports, several compliance executives left the company this year: chief compliance officer Lexi Herrera, head of anti-money laundering transaction monitoring Chris Beaño, and Irish Calagui, the officer responsible for suspicious transaction reports;
• a little over a year ago, the central bank of the Philippines told supervised companies to remove access to gambling sites from their apps, so this is a sore subject for the regulator.

Coins.ph denies the allegations. In a statement the company sent CoinDesk after the article went out, it said it "firmly denies any claim that it knowingly serves offshore gaming operators." The company said user funds are safe, its central bank license is still valid, and it expects to fully restore the affected services soon.

Who is behind Coins.ph

In January 2019, Coins.ph was bought by Indonesia's Gojek, in a deal reported at around $95 million. The company was later sold to Wei Zhou, the former CFO of Binance. The crypto services license is held by a separate group company. According to local media, the central bank has not suspended that license, and the restriction applies only to the e-money wallet.

What to do if your money is on an exchange

The Coins.ph story is a reminder of a simple thing. While your coins sit in an exchange account, you depend not only on how reliable the exchange is, but also on how it gets along with the regulator. A regulator can restrict one way in, or everything at once, and nobody promises a timeline.

A few practical steps that work for any exchange:

1. Keep on the exchange only what you need for upcoming trades. Move the rest to a wallet where only you hold the keys. We explained how that differs from an exchange account in our article on custodial vs non-custodial crypto wallets.
2. Check in advance how to withdraw your coins: which networks the exchange supports, what the limits and fees are. In a rush, it is easy to pick the wrong network.
3. Write down your wallet's seed phrase and keep it away from your phone.
4. If a service has already restricted operations, do not use "helpers" who offer to get your money out for a cut. Stories like this always attract scammers.

Crypto exchange without registration and without an exchange account

To swap one coin for another, you do not have to keep money in someone else's account. That is what a no-sign-up crypto exchange is for: you send your coins and get different ones straight to your own address.

VertEXchange does not need an account, email, or phone number. The rate and the final amount are shown before you send anything, and the coins arrive at the wallet you entered. That way you can exchange USDT TRC20 to bitcoin without registration or, if you need cheap transfers, move USDT from TRON to the Solana network and pay a fraction of a cent per transfer.

• A fixed rate holds for about 15 minutes.
• VertEXchange does not hold customer coins: the payout goes to your address.
• If the exchange does not go through, the coins return to your refund address.
• Personal fields of an order are deleted 24 hours after it completes, and your exchange history stays only in your browser.
• Support chat is on every page, and questions are handled by exchange code.

FAQ

What happened to Coins.ph in fall 2026?

Since late September, customers have been unable to top up their Coins.ph peso wallet with a bank transfer: the central bank of the Philippines restricted incoming payments to DCPay Philippines. On October 13, CoinDesk, citing sources, reported that the regulator is preparing punitive action against the exchange.

Can I withdraw money from Coins.ph?

According to local media as of October 14, 2026, cash-outs, outgoing transfers, crypto trading, and QRPh payments work. Incoming peso transfers from banks and other wallets are blocked.

Will Coins.ph lose its license?

Unknown. The threat to the license comes from one anonymous CoinDesk source. The central bank of the Philippines has not announced any decision, and Coins.ph itself says its license is valid.

What is Coins.ph accused of?

According to CoinDesk's sources, of serving offshore gambling companies. Coins.ph denies knowingly working with such operators. The regulator has not published any official charges.

How many customers does Coins.ph have?

More than 18 million. The exchange accounts for roughly 75-80% of the liquidity in peso-to-stablecoin trading in the Philippines.

How do I keep my money safe if an exchange gets restricted?

Keep only the amount for upcoming trades on the exchange and move the rest to a wallet with your own keys. If withdrawals still work, withdraw calmly and double-check the network instead of using middlemen.