Coins.ph Faces Regulatory Pressure Over Alleged Gambling Payments

The regulatory friction centers on DCPay Philippines, the electronic money issuer handling peso-wallet services for the exchange. Since late September, users have been unable to fund their accounts via InstaPay and PESONet, two primary payment networks. While Coins.ph maintains that these restrictions do not affect cryptocurrency trading or outgoing transfers, the situation has cast a shadow over its compliance operations.

Reports indicate that several senior compliance staff members, including chief Lexi Herrera and anti-money laundering monitoring head Chris Beaño, have recently departed the firm. Neither the exchange nor the BSP has formally linked these resignations to specific regulatory violations, but the timing coincides with a broader crackdown on financial links to the gaming sector. In August 2025, the BSP issued Memorandum M-2025-029, requiring financial institutions to purge gambling access links from their platforms to curb illicit financial flows.

Operating in the Philippines since 2014, Coins.ph serves over 18 million users. The exchange functions through two distinct entities: Betur Inc., which manages virtual asset services, and DCPay, which oversees payment operations. While the current BSP action targets the latter, the potential for wider license repercussions remains a concern for the firm, which is currently working to satisfy the central bank's mandates for enhanced internal oversight.