Philippines
The Philippines pushes back against foreign exchanges, continuing a protectionist streak
The pressure on crypto is growing swiftly in the Philippines. After a recent series of controversial moves from the state regulators and local think tanks, the country’s central bank published a warning to the citizens, discouraging them from engaging in any operations with unregistered or foreign crypto exchanges. The announcement itself doesn’t sound menacing but taken in the context of accompanying developments, it makes a 112-million nation a restive region for crypto. On Thursday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) published a warning note to the country’s citizens, “strongly urging” them not to deal with virtual asset service providers (VASPs) that are either unregistered or domiciled abroad. The Bank emphasized that any deals with virtual assets are high-risk activities by ...
Binance ban off the cards, says Philippine trade and industry department
A proposal to ban global cryptocurrency exchange Binance from operating in the Philippines will not gather steam due to a lack of regulations towards cryptocurrencies in the country. The Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has cited no clear guidelines set out by the country’s central bank, Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), as a dead-stop after a lobbying group called for the prohibition of Binance in early July. Local think tank Infrawatch PH had asked the DTI to investigate Binance for the promotion of its services and offerings, which the group believes was done without the necessary permits. Binance had looked to acquiesce the parties involved, telling Cointelegraph that it intends to secure virtual asset service provider and e-money issuer licenses in the Philippines. ...
Binance ban off the cards, says Philippine trade and industry department
A proposal to ban global cryptocurrency exchange Binance from operating in the Philippines will not gather steam due to a lack of regulations towards cryptocurrencies in the country. The Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has cited no clear guidelines set out by the country’s central bank, Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), as a dead-stop after a lobbying group called for the prohibition of Binance in early July. Local think tank Infrawatch PH had asked the DTI to investigate Binance for the promotion of its services and offerings, which the group believes was done without the necessary permits. Binance had looked to acquiesce the parties involved, telling Cointelegraph that it intends to secure virtual asset service provider and e-money issuer licenses in the Philippines. ...
PayMaya’s parent company Voyager Innovations raises $210M
Voyager plans to enhance the services offered by PayMaya, including cryptocurrency solutions The company will use the recent funding to boost its efforts to employ the digital economy in serving the unbanked and underserved. Voyager Innovations, the parent company of the leading digital payments application in the Philippines, PayMaya, has announced that it recently completed a $210 million funding round at a $1.4 billion valuation. Pushing it into unicorn status, the funding round was led by Asia’s SIG Venture Capital. Other investors who participated in the funding round were Tencent, First Pacific, and PLDT – Philippine’s largest telecommunication service provider. “The strong endorsement from our new shareholders and participation of our existing investors in this fundraising validates...
The Philippines’ top payment provider adds crypto to its mobile app
Philippines-based major fintech company PayMaya has reportedly launched a new cryptocurrency feature on its app, following in the footsteps of PayPal, Venmo and others. According to TechInAsia, PayMaya users will be able to trade, purchase, and spend digital assets using their accounts. This is also part of PayMaya’s aim to offer a comprehensive crypto package for anybody interested in entering the market. With the new feature, PayMaya intends to make it simpler for Filipinos to learn about and use cryptocurrencies, as per the report. Furthermore, it will eliminate the necessity for users to register with cryptocurrency exchanges, create a crypto wallet, and go through other KYC hoops. PayMaya is the Philippines’ largest provider of digital payments. It’s also a virtual m...
Yield Guild Games Raises $1.45M for Philippine Typhoon Relief
Yield Guild Games (YGG) has raised $1.45 million to support people affected by December 16’s Typhoon Odette in the Philippines, with nearly $1 million already dispersed to people in need. The funding was used to purchase essential goods like medicines, power generators, and canned food, which were turned over to the Philippine Army and Navy and non-profits to distribute among affected communities. There is still about $458,000 worth of crypto and tokens that have been donated to the relief fund but they have yet to be converted to fiat currency for deployment, according to a representative from YGG. Our Transparency Report for Typhoon #OdettePH relief efforts is up! @yieldguild raised $1.45M and has so far disbursed a total of $992K to date. Meanwhile, our direct financial assistance...
Court jails three for Facebook scam
Justice C.L. Dabup of the Plateau State High Court sitting in Jos, on Wednesday sentenced three internet fraudsters, Nbubuisi Kerian Ozomba, Paul Obide and Samuel Chukwuebuka Nduchukwe to one-month imprisonment. The trio were convicted for obtaining money by false pretence through the social media platform, Facebook. They were arrested in a sting operation by the Abuja Zonal Office of the EFCC following intelligence on their alleged involvement in an internet-related scam. Investigation revealed that Ozomba created a Facebook Account with the name James Hicks with a profile picture of an American military officer and obtained the sum of $350 USD from Mary Lovely, a Filipino; while Obide (alias Javier Espinal) posed as a military officer from Spain and obtained $2000 from another Filipino, ...
Southeast Asian leaders discuss Myanmar crisis with junta chief
Southeast Asian leaders began a crisis meeting on Myanmar on Saturday aiming to persuade Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who led the military takeover that sparked turmoil in his country, to forge a path to end the violence. The gathering of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta is the first coordinated international effort to ease the crisis in Myanmar, an impoverished country that neighbours China, India and Thailand. Myanmar is part of the 10-nation ASEAN. With participants attending in person despite the pandemic, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Friday that the summit reflected the “deep concern about the situation in Myanmar and ASEAN’s determination to help Myanmar get out of this delicate situation”. It’s unusual for the leader o...
Former Nigerian ambassador urges government to negotiate with bandits
A former Nigerian ambassador to the Philippines and Algeria, Orefo Onochie, has told the federal government to consider the option of negotiating with the insurgents, currently terrorising Nigeria, if that would make the bandits to embrace lasting peace. Onochie who spoke newsmen in Abuja on Sunday said that negotiating with the bandits would prove a wiser option in the long run. According to him, there is nothing wrong in negotiating with bandits if that can end banditry, insurgency and kidnappings in parts of the country. The diplomat argued that Nigeria should not continue to be held hostage by terrorists, especially in the north. He also expressed worry over what he described as the persistent cases of kidnappings and killing of farmers by herdsmen in farming communities in parts of th...
Rare Christmas sales in Saudi Arabia
Christmas trees and glittery ornaments are for sale at a Saudi gift shop, a once unthinkable sight in the cradle of Islam where all public non-Muslim worship is banned. In recent years, festive sales have gradually crept into the capital Riyadh, a sign of loosening social restrictions after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged to steer the conservative Gulf kingdom towards an “open, moderate Islam”. “I didn’t ever imagine I’d see this” in Saudi Arabia, a Riyadh resident told AFP at the shop selling trees, Santa Claus outfits as well as tinsel, baubles and other ornaments. “I am surprised,” said the resident, declining to be identified. Until barely three years ago, it was almost impossible to sell such items openly in Saudi Arabia, but authorities have been clipping the powers of the c...
European Union backs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for WTO role
The European Union has endorsed former Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next director-general of the World Trade Organisation, Bloomberg reported. The business news outlet cited anonymous officials familiar with the matter that all the 27 EU member countries agreed on Monday in Brussels to support Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala. Bloomberg also reported that the United States has decided to back Yoo Myung-hee, South Korea’s trade minister, for the role. The position has been fiercely contested amongst candidates of different countries since Roberto Azevedo resigned in August. Last month, Okonjo-Iweala and Myung-hee were selected as the last two candidates in the contest. The EU’s endorsement is seen as a significant boost for Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy, with the final winner expected...
Premier League terminate £490 million TV deal in China
The Premier League has terminated its TV rights deal with China, its biggest overseas contract, leaving a huge hole in clubs’ finances. The deal with Chinese broadcaster PPTV was worth around £490m and had lasted only one of its three years. The conflict is said to have been around a fee of £160m that the Premier League was owed in March but did not receive. “The Premier League confirms that it has today terminated its agreements for Premier League coverage in China with its licensee in that territory,” a spokesman said on Thursday. “The Premier League will not be commenting further on the matter at this stage.” It is not known if the conflict is based purely on money or involves the escalating political tensions between China and the UK government. Boris Johnson announced in July that Hua...
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