Access to Coinbase and Gemini has been restricted in the Philippines.

As the Philippines continues to increase its regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrency exchanges, access to major platforms such as Coinbase and Gemini has been restricted. This situation arose as local internet service providers acted in accordance with regulators' instructions. Users reported that they were unable to access these platforms starting from Tuesday.

According to a report by Manila Bulletin, the directive issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) called for restricting access to 50 online trading platforms operating without licenses. These platforms were marked as unlicensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Central Bank of the Philippines. The central bank has not yet disclosed the full list of the blocked platforms.

This development clearly shows that the approach towards the cryptocurrency market in the Philippines is shifting from tolerance to actual enforcement. It appears that having a local license has become a decisive factor for access to the market. Similar restrictions had previously been imposed on Binance, and it has been observed that regulatory oversight is intensifying. A 90-day compliance period was granted for Binance in December 2023, and in March 2024, the NTC issued a directive for local providers to restrict access. The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission then requested Apple and Google to remove the Binance app from their stores, and most recently, it was announced that 10 exchanges, including OKX, Bybit, and KuCoin, were operating without licenses.

The increase in these pressures has allowed licensed companies to offer new solutions. On November 19, the exchange PDAX collaborated with payroll company Toku to enable remote workers to receive their salaries in stablecoins. Additionally, on December 8, digital bank GoTyme launched a service in partnership with Alpaca that allows the purchase and custody of 11 crypto assets through its application.