Share this article

Binance Blocked by Philippines Securities Watchdog

The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission warned in November that the company was operating in the country without the necessary licenses.

Updated Mar 25, 2024, 1:13 p.m. Published Mar 25, 2024, 1:11 p.m.
The Philippines plans on issuing a wholesale CBDC (Image credit: Alexes Gerard/Unsplash)
The Philippines plans on issuing a wholesale CBDC (Image credit: Alexes Gerard/Unsplash)

The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission is blocking local access to the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, the regulator said in a notice published Monday.

The regulator filed a formal request with the national telecommunications agency on March 12 to help in "blocking the website and other web pages used by Binance, which was found to have offered an investment and trading platform without the necessary license."

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the State of Crypto Newsletter today. See all newsletters

The move to block the site follows a warning from November 2023.

"The SEC has identified the aforementioned platform and concluded that the public’s continued access to these websites/apps poses a threat to the security of the funds of investing Filipinos,” SEC Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino said in the letter addressed to the telecommunications agency.

The regulator also criticized the platform for running promotional campaigns via social media to attract investors in the country without the regulatory approval to do so.



More For You

Pudgy Penguins: A New Blueprint for Tokenized Culture

Pudgy Title Image

Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.

What to know:

Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.

The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.

More For You

El Salvador's central bank buys $50 million of gold as government keeps adding bitcoin

El Salvador flag (Getty Images)

The bitcoin-friendly nation's central bank now holds over $360 million of the yellow metal, while the government, led by President Nayib Bukele, has bitcoin holdings worth $635 million.

What to know:

  • El Salvador's central bank added $50 million of gold to its reserves on Thursday.
  • The country also made its usual purchase of 1 bitcoin, bringing the government’s holdings to 7,547 coins, worth $635 million.