Philippine cryptocurrency exchange Coins.ph has reportedly come under increased scrutiny from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) over alleged transactions involving restricted offshore gambling operators, raising concerns about its regulatory standing.
Summary
- Coins.ph faces reported regulatory scrutiny over allegations involving financial transactions linked to restricted offshore gambling.
- Philippine regulators restricted incoming InstaPay and PESONet transfers through DCPay, affecting Coins.ph wallet funding services.
- Coins.ph confirmed that cryptocurrency trading and outgoing transfers remain available despite restrictions on incoming deposits.
- The exchange operates through separate entities responsible for cryptocurrency services and electronic money payment operations.
- BSP ordered financial institutions to remove gambling access links from payment applications in August 2025.
The allegations, disclosed in October 13 reporting citing people familiar with the situation, concern whether the exchange handled payments connected to offshore gaming businesses. Coins.ph has not publicly confirmed the allegations, and no official BSP finding establishing gambling-related misconduct was identified. However, the company has acknowledged that the central bank ordered improvements to its internal controls and restricted certain payment services.
Coins.ph faces scrutiny over alleged gambling payments
According to people familiar with the reported regulatory concerns, Coins.ph allegedly processed transactions involving offshore gambling businesses that faced restrictions in the Philippines. One source suggested that the suspected compliance failures could put the company’s operating license at risk, although no confirmed revocation order has been published.
The October 13 allegations came after the BSP restricted incoming transactions through DCPay Philippines, the electronic money issuer responsible for Coins.ph’s peso wallet services. The restrictions affect transfers through InstaPay and PESONet, two major payment networks used to move Philippine pesos between participating financial institutions.
Coins.ph confirmed that the BSP had instructed it to strengthen its internal controls. The company said incoming peso transfers through InstaPay and PESONet, along with QRPH collection services, would remain temporarily unavailable while it worked to meet the regulator’s requirements.
Its public statement did not identify gambling-related transactions as the reason for the action. The BSP has not publicly established that Coins.ph violated gambling regulations, and the available official records do not confirm that its cryptocurrency exchange license has been suspended or revoked.
Reports concerning the company’s compliance operations have identified the departures of several senior employees, including compliance chief Lexi Herrera, anti-money laundering transaction monitoring head Chris Beaño and money laundering reporting officer Irish Calagui.
The circumstances surrounding their reported departures have not been independently established. Neither the company nor the regulator has publicly linked those personnel changes to confirmed regulatory violations.
BSP restrictions affect Coins.ph deposits but not trading
The payment restrictions began affecting Coins.ph customers in late September, limiting their ability to add Philippine pesos through certain banking channels. The exchange operates its electronic money and cryptocurrency businesses through separate regulated entities.
DCPay Philippines provides electronic money services and facilitates peso transfers, while Betur Inc. operates the virtual asset business under the Coins.ph brand. The company’s user agreement identifies the two entities and explains their respective services under BSP supervision.
The restrictions concern DCPay’s payment operations and do not, by themselves, establish that Betur has lost its authorization to operate as a cryptocurrency exchange.
Coins.ph said customers could continue using several services, including cryptocurrency trading, outgoing transfers, bill payments and QRPH payments. The platform maintains that customer funds remain protected under applicable BSP requirements.
Its official service status page continued to show InstaPay and PESONet cash-in services under maintenance during the latest review. Incoming InstaPay transfers have carried an unresolved maintenance notice since September 29, while cryptocurrency spot trading and outgoing bank transfers were listed as operational.
Customers therefore face restrictions on specific peso funding methods, even though they can still access their existing accounts and supported cryptocurrency services.
The exchange had previously faced limits on incoming bank transfers following the BSP’s action against DCPay. Earlier coverage established that outgoing transfers remained available and that the crypto trading operation was legally separate from the affected electronic money business.
BSP tightened online gambling payment rules in 2025
The allegations arise against a stricter regulatory environment for online gambling payments in the Philippines. In August 2025, the BSP directed supervised financial institutions to remove features that allowed customers to access gambling platforms directly through their payment applications and websites.
BSP Memorandum M-2025-029, dated August 14, ordered institutions to remove gambling access links within 48 hours. The directive followed a decision by the Monetary Board to suspend such features while officials developed standards for payment services connected to online gambling.
The memorandum addressed links that redirect customers from financial applications to gambling websites. It did not establish a blanket prohibition on every financial transaction involving a licensed gaming business.
In a separate regulatory proposal, the BSP outlined requirements for institutions offering online gambling payment services, including stronger customer protections and safeguards against financial crime. The proposed framework addressed the identification of customers and beneficial owners, transaction monitoring and institutional responsibilities.
Coins.ph’s own terms prohibit customers from using its services for illegal gambling and certain unauthorized gaming activities. Its prohibited-business provisions include illegal gambling operations, sports betting and other restricted activities.
The existence of those restrictions does not establish whether Coins.ph processed the transactions described in the allegations. Determining whether prohibited businesses accessed its services would require transaction records, compliance findings or an official regulatory determination that has not been publicly disclosed.
Coins.ph awaits further regulatory developments
Coins.ph has operated in the Philippine cryptocurrency market since 2014 and reports more than 18 million registered users. Its ownership changed in 2019 when Indonesian technology company Gojek acquired the business for a reported USD 95 million.
The platform was subsequently sold in 2022 to an investor group involving Joffre Capital and former Binance chief financial officer Wei Zhou. Under its current structure, Coins.ph offers cryptocurrency trading, digital wallets, domestic payments and remittance services.
The BSP’s published payment-system register lists DCPay Philippines under the Coins.ph business name. It identifies the company as a registered operator of a payment system, while Betur appears separately in the regulator’s payment-system records.
Coins.ph has said it is working with the central bank to complete the required internal-control improvements within the deadlines set by the regulator. The company has not provided a public date for restoring the affected cash-in services.
The latest available Coins.ph service advisory states that customer funds remain safe under BSP requirements. It confirms that incoming InstaPay and PESONet transfers and QRPH collection services are temporarily unavailable, while cryptocurrency trading, outgoing transfers and bill payments continue.
