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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines is set to move forward with the blocking of crypto exchange platform Binance in the country, according to local media reports.
The watchdog had said that it received approval for its filing with the Philippines’ National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), which requested to remove local access to Binance’s main website and other related platforms.
SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino said in a letter to the NTC that Binance is a “threat to the security of the funds of investing Filipinos.” The SEC had said that Binance has been offering services such as crypto savings accounts and leveraged trading products in the country without the necessary licenses.
While the total number of Filipino Binance users remains unknown, data from consumer intelligence platform GWI estimates that there are over 9.3 million crypto owners in the Philippines, good enough to rank it 7th worldwide.
The SEC has been publicly warning Filipino users against Binance as early as November 2023 – just days after the company’s former CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in the US to breaking anti-money laundering laws.
In the same month, the SEC also expressed its intent to ban Binance in the Philippines within three months, but the move was delayed due to a reshuffle in the government body’s leadership.
Around this time, a Binance spokesperson confirmed to Tech in Asia that Kenneth Stern – the head of Binance’s operations in the Philippines – had exited the company in July 2023.
See also: US civil suit against Binance.com: What’s the real motivation?
Editing by Lorenzo Kyle Subido
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