Philippines Proposes 12-Month Freeze on New Crypto Payment Operators

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, has proposed a 12-month freeze on new Operator of Payment System applications to review and tighten oversight of digital payments and crypto businesses.

The draft circular aims to reduce risks at fiat-crypto rails by forcing banks and payment providers to deal directly with licensed Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), blocking unregistered and offshore crypto platforms, and imposing enhanced due diligence, transaction monitoring, and settlement limits.

The proposed rules also include the creation of a National QR Code Merchant Database containing merchant identities, business registration details, payment providers, settlement accounts, and risk classifications to improve traceability and help financial institutions identify merchants and track payment flows more clearly.