Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas bars VASPs from listing privacy tokens

The Philippines just drew a hard line against privacy coins. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country’s central bank, has approved a memorandum that flatly prohibits licensed virtual asset service providers from listing or supporting any anonymity-enhancing virtual assets.

Memorandum No. M-2026-023, approved on June 5, 2026, effectively makes the Philippines one of the latest jurisdictions to take a regulatory sledgehammer to privacy-focused tokens. Every registered VASP operating in the country, including major platforms like Coins.ph and PDAX, must now comply.

What the new rules actually require

The core prohibition is straightforward: if a token is designed to obscure transaction details, licensed Philippine exchanges can’t touch it. The BSP didn’t name specific tokens in the memorandum, but the category broadly encompasses coins built with anonymity-enhancing features that make transaction tracing difficult or impossible.

But the memo goes well beyond just banning privacy coins. It introduces a significantly more demanding pre-listing evaluation framework for all virtual assets.

VASPs must now conduct deeper reviews before adding any token to their platforms. These assessments cover security, liquidity, and utility, essentially forcing exchanges to build a comprehensive case for why a given asset deserves a listing in the first place.

For asset-backed and fiat-backed tokens specifically, the BSP is requiring what it calls a “lifecycle assessment.” In English: exchanges need to evaluate not just a token’s current state, but its entire economic model from issuance through redemption, including the credibility of the issuer and the robustness of the backing mechanism.

The issuer’s background and regulatory compliance history also factor into the evaluation.

The broader regulatory context

The central bank’s oversight of virtual assets dates back to at least 2017, making the Philippines one of the earlier movers in Southeast Asia on crypto regulation. But the pace of regulatory action accelerated notably in September 2022, when the BSP enacted a moratorium on new VASP licenses. That freeze has been extended through the 2025-2026 period, meaning no new crypto exchanges can set up shop in the country while the BSP refines its rulebook.

The BSP is explicitly aligning its framework with standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global body that sets the rules on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing. The FATF has long flagged anonymity-enhancing technologies as a risk vector, and countries that want to stay in the organization’s good graces tend to take those flags seriously.

What this means for investors

For anyone holding privacy-focused tokens on Philippine exchanges, the immediate implication is clear: those assets will need to be moved off-platform or converted. The memo doesn’t criminalize holding privacy coins in personal wallets, but it removes the institutional on-ramps and off-ramps that make trading them convenient.

For the broader Philippine crypto market, the new listing standards create a higher bar for all tokens, not just privacy coins. Exchanges will need to invest more resources in compliance teams and due diligence processes. Smaller or newer tokens that can’t demonstrate strong security, adequate liquidity, and clear utility may find it harder to get listed on Philippine platforms.