Philippines Central Bank Blocks Coins.ph Peso Cash-Ins

The Philippines central bank has blocked incoming peso transfers to the wallet arm behind Coins.ph, cutting the country's largest crypto exchange off from the main way its users add cash. The restriction applies to DCPay Philippines Inc., the electronic money issuer that handles peso movements for Coins.ph, and it has been in place since 29 September.

For anyone holding crypto on the platform, the account itself is not frozen. Coins.ph says existing customers keep access to cash-outs, QRPh payments, bill payments and crypto trading, and its own status page shows cash-outs on both rails as operational. What has stopped is money coming in: pesos sent from an external bank account or another e-wallet no longer reach a Coins.ph wallet, so new trades have to be funded from balances already on the exchange.

That is a large user base to inconvenience. Coins.ph says it has over 18 million registered accounts, processes roughly $50 million in 24-hour spot trading volume, and controls an estimated 75% to 80% of the country's peso-to-stablecoin liquidity.

What the BSP Actually Ordered

The action is a partial suspension, not a shutdown. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas suspended DCPay from accepting incoming credit transfers cleared through InstaPay and PESONet, under Monetary Board Resolution No. 839.

Coins.ph put the same thing to users in an advisory published on 1 October:

"The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has directed Coins.ph to introduce enhancements to our internal controls. During this time, PHP cash-in via InstaPay and PESONet and QRPH collection services are temporarily unavailable."

The company said customer funds remain safe in accordance with BSP requirements, and that it is working with the central bank to complete all requirements "within the timelines it has set."

Two weeks on, the freeze has not been lifted. Coins.ph's status page still lists InstaPay Cash In and PESONet Cash In as under maintenance, under an incident opened on 29 September at 13:00 GMT+08:00, while cash-outs on both rails show as operational. Nothing blocked money going out: DCPay kept its status as an originating institution, and in-store QRPh merchant payments were never affected.

The Gambling Allegation Coins.ph Denies

People with knowledge of the situation said the alleged infractions involve serving offshore gambling firms. The same people said several gambling operators moved onto the exchange after the central bank ordered supervised institutions in 2025 to cut in-app access to gambling sites, which also gave those firms a way to hold crypto and stablecoins for paying offshore partners.

Coins.ph denies it. "Coins.ph firmly denies any claim that it knowingly serves offshore gaming or gambling operators," the company said. In a longer statement it said it was aware of "recent news reports about our operations, including claims about offshore gaming transactions and our engagement with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)," and that it continues "to invest in strengthening our compliance and control functions."

A company spokesperson said the exchange does not accept or permit offshore gambling operators and screens customers and transactions in line with BSP rules, but did not directly confirm or deny whether any such transactions occurred.

The central bank has not publicly linked its 2025 gambling directive to the restrictions on Coins.ph. It has not commented on the matter either.

Why the Licence Question Is Still Open

People familiar with the situation said the infractions are serious enough for Coins.ph to lose its licence to operate. That has not been confirmed by the regulator or the company, and no published document shows a revocation is being decided.

The corporate structure matters here. Coins.ph runs through two separate BSP-regulated entities. DCPay holds an electronic money issuer licence and is the one under suspension. Betur Inc. holds a virtual asset service provider licence and powers crypto trading and custody. Betur's licence has not been suspended, and crypto trading continues to work. The fiat rails that fund it are the part that is down.

Several senior compliance staff, including the chief compliance officer, left the company this year. No link between those departures and the central bank's action has been established.

Until the cash-in rails reopen, Coins.ph users can sell, withdraw and pay, but they cannot top up with fresh pesos. The next signal is whether the BSP lifts the restriction on DCPay, or widens it to Betur's VASP licence.