Cryptocurrency regulation in the Philippines may tighten further as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) considers a 12-month pause on new registrations for operators of payment systems. The proposal also takes aim at payment arrangements involving virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The draft comes amid a broader regional trend of financial regulators sharpening oversight of digital asset payment channels, with the Philippines among the markets where retail crypto use has grown quickly enough that payment rails and virtual asset activity are increasingly intertwined.

Proposed 12-Month Suspension of OPS Registrations

Under the proposed circular, the BSP would stop accepting new applications to register as an operator of a payment system (OPS). The suspension is intended to support a review of the registration framework. The draft does not impose an immediate freeze.

🚨 BREAKING: 🇵🇭Philippines' central bank proposes a 12-month freeze on new payment operator registrations while reviewing licensing rules. The draft also introduces stricter controls for crypto payments, including enhanced due diligence, monitoring, and transaction limits. pic.twitter.com/iFReoHiFGu — Coinwaft (@coinwaft) September 7, 2026

🚨 BREAKING: 🇵🇭Philippines' central bank proposes a 12-month freeze on new payment operator registrations while reviewing licensing rules. The draft also introduces stricter controls for crypto payments, including enhanced due diligence, monitoring, and transaction limits. pic.twitter.com/iFReoHiFGu

How the BSP OPS Freeze Affects Applicants

The central bank said it would examine its OPS classification, registration, and licensing rules. Applications submitted before the freeze would be subject to assessment, but the BSP would neither approve nor reject them until the end of the 12-month period.

Applicants would also not be allowed to commence any activities requiring OPS registration until the suspension ends, and only after being granted permission by the BSP independently.

Under existing regulations, the BSP operates an OPS registration scheme under the National Payment Systems Act. According to the central bank's official guidance, the scheme provides the regulator with a minimum inventory of payment system activities and participants. That registry function is central to the BSP's wider digital payments agenda, which in recent years has promoted interoperable payment infrastructure such as QR payments and real-time transfers across banks and electronic money issuers.

The proposal would also change how BSP-supervised institutions handle certain virtual asset payment arrangements. Merchant acquirers would be expected to have direct links with regulated VASPs. This direct merchant relationship, formalized through an agreement between the acquiring entity and the merchant, would give the acquirer access to information for onboarding, monitoring, and settlement control purposes. The move addresses layered arrangements, in which an acquirer's client is not the final merchant receiving payments, by pushing acquiring institutions closer to the point of transaction.

The proposed regulation would apply to entities requiring approval from the BSP, the SEC, or any other regulatory body.

What the New VASP Rules Require

VASPs appear in the proposal alongside casinos, gaming operators, adult-oriented businesses, and money-service businesses. The grouping signals that these sectors require stronger controls, though it does not state that the BSP considers their underlying activities identical.

Under the proposed Philippine crypto regulations, these regulated businesses would have to enhance due diligence and transaction monitoring measures, and they may implement transaction value limits as well. The emphasis on enhanced due diligence is consistent with international anti-money-laundering standards, under which higher-risk business categories typically warrant additional scrutiny from supervised institutions.

The proposal follows earlier BSP measures affecting licensed VASPs. In June, the central bank tightened token listing and monitoring requirements for VASPs, mandating ongoing reviews and defined suspension or delisting triggers. That sequence indicates the BSP is moving from rules governing which assets VASPs may offer toward rules governing how payments involving those assets are structured.

The new rules could also force institutions to review existing layered payment arrangements. BSP-supervised firms would need to identify current relationships involving covered merchants and assess whether those structures meet the proposed direct-merchant requirement. Institutions would have six months to conduct the review, with six additional months granted for the rectification of any identified weaknesses. Possible changes include contract restructuring, setting exposure limits, and terminating arrangements that fall beyond the institutions' risk appetite.

Tighter Merchant Oversight

The BSP also plans a centralized National QR Code Merchant Database, which would allow institutions to recognize fraudulent, prohibited, or undesirable merchants through payment systems. The measure forms another part of the proposed merchant oversight framework and builds on the country's national QR payment infrastructure, which the BSP has promoted as a backbone for both domestic and cross-border retail payments.

The regulation could affect banks, electronic money institutions, merchant acquirers, and payment facilitators for virtual asset platforms, with the impact varying depending on how the BSP defines these arrangements in the final circular.

Philippine crypto regulation has also intersected with licensing concerns involving foreign businesses. Binance and BlockShoals were reported to have not been licensed as VASPs by the BSP even after participating in the SEC's StratBox sandbox program. BlockShoals was later given access to sandbox testing while other BSP licensing requirements remain in place. The proposed rules would add another layer of compliance for firms servicing similar arrangements.

Binance officially enters the Philippines. 币安正式进入菲律宾。 pic.twitter.com/TVd1k0qVQN — Yi He (@heyibinance) July 2, 2026

Binance officially enters the Philippines. 币安正式进入菲律宾。 pic.twitter.com/TVd1k0qVQN

Participation in the sandbox will not exempt entities from any obligations imposed by the BSP, and payment firms will continue to be obligated to satisfy all regulatory requirements.

What Happens Next With the BSP Draft

The BSP is accepting comments through its policy exposure draft portal, with interested parties able to submit feedback through the designated policy officers. After reviewing responses, the central bank could adjust the suspension, the implementation period, and the covered arrangements. For prospective OPS applicants, the outcome determines whether registration windows reopen after 12 months or whether the framework itself is restructured before new entrants are admitted.

A halt in registrations does not take effect merely through the publication of the draft policy. If implemented, the circular would come into force 15 days after publication in the Official Gazette or a national newspaper, at which point crypto regulation in the Philippines would move to its implementation stage.

Payment firms will need to track the final document with respect to applications and relationships with VASPs. Crypto firms in the Philippines will need a direct relationship with the acquiring institution to access local payment facilities.