Crypto company Coins.ph wants a “thriving” ecosystem of crypto exchange in the Philippines to be have a fair chance in the global scene, in light of its international expansion for the year 2024.
Wei Zhou, Coins.ph chief executive officer, said in a media round table held last Thursday that they want the Philippines to become a centralized exchange for cryptocurrencies beyond the national borders.
The CEO sees the importance for the country to establish a “live exchange,” saying that he wants to make the products that Filipinos consume.
“What we’re doing right now is we’re bringing the best of the tokens globally to our users here. What we hope to do is to bring homegrown tokens or projects to a global audience,” he told reporters during a media briefing in Shangri-La, The Fort, in Taguig City.
The company announced recently that it is entering the Australian market after acquiring an Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) Digital Currency Exchange registration this month. It has also gained license in Africa.
In addition to that, it also announced that it is accelerating its global expansion by entering the European and Latin America markets.
While the company has intentions to make partnerships in regions where there are more Overseas Filipino Workers, like the United States and Asia, the CEO said that it is “more expensive” to get licenses in these places.
Moreover, Zhou believes that crypto adoption in global south countries will be much faster due to how they spend money in which credit cards are “bypassed.”
In strengthening the company’s presence in the country, Zhou admitted that it has been difficult for them to partner with digital banks.
However, he said that this situation has been changed recently as more of these banks are starting to realize the needs of their clients in terms of crypto currency.
“We hope to be much more integrated, and that’s by only taking our roots deeper if all these digital banks have the intention ‘we want to offer bitcoin and profit our users.’ So, they make money, we make money,” he said.
Aside from Coins.ph’s plans to expand, it is set to integrate the Solana chain by February, which is said to unlock access to dynamic projects and assets being built on it.
“For us, it’s about resources. We’ve always wanted to support it, but we didn’t have resources until now,” the CEO said.
The homegrown centralized exchange company is the first in Asia to gain both Virtual Currency and Electronic Money Issuer license. It is regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and has gained 18 million users since 2014.