Philippine Authorities Work Together for Consolidated Bitcoin Regulations

The high growth experienced when it comes to the price of bitcoin has made a lot of central banks from all around the world want to take a stance for or against the cryptocurrency. Of course, numerous central banks and authorities have also started to talk about the possibility and the options to regulate bitcoin.

New regulations would focus on bitcoins used as investments

Now, regulators in the Philippines believe that the best way to regulate bitcoin would be coming up with some unified rules accepted by all national authorities. The rules would focus on cryptocurrencies used as investments. The Bango Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) revealed in a statement that it will work with the Securities and Exchange Commission to set some laws regulating bitcoins used as investments.

The statement said:

“This is in coordination with SEC, if ever there would be a shift to that – if there is kind of approach, there is investment already. It would not just be BSP, it’s a collaboration [with the SEC]. Currently, we are focusing on the exchange, but who knows. With the developments, we might consider (regulating the bitcoin).”

The BSP also revealed that the interest in regulating the cryptocurrency market came as more and more people are willing to invest in bitcoin, which has experienced impressive price growths this year. On the other hand, the Securities and Exchange Commission has also shown a lot of interest in potentially regulating the cryptocurrency market.

The commission stated in October that it is looking into the market and was considering to allow digital currency offering as securities. The BSP also revealed that it was looking into applications for bitcoin exchange regulations for a number of 12 traders. However, the central bank seems to be taking quite some time to focus on this, as it only gave approval to two traders so far.

It is important to mention that the enhanced interest from regulators in the Philippines is also due to the fact that the volume of bitcoin transactions in the country has seen an impressive growth this year. The central bank reported that it actually grew to $8.8 million.