The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) aims to be at the forefront as financial regulators give the green light to trading crypto assets in the country.

On Friday July 2, CNN reported that PSE President and CEO Ramon Monzon said the local exchange should be the country’s first exchange for crypto assets. He stated:

“If there is an exchange for cryptocurrencies, this should be done at the PSE. Why? First, because we have a transactional infrastructure. But more importantly, we will be able to take security precautions to protect investors, especially with a product like cryptocurrency. “

The country’s stock exchange is currently awaiting guidance from the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission and other financial regulators.

Although Monzon is keen to support the crypto asset market, Monzon warns of crypto volatility and states: “Get rich immediately can also be poverty immediately”.

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State regulators in the Philippines began investigating the regulation of cryptocurrency trading in 2019 when the SEC sought feedback from banks, investors, and the public on whether or not the nation was ready to build an official cryptocurrency exchange.

The demand for digital payments in the country is great, with around 10% of GDP coming from an estimated 10 million Filipinos working overseas.

The Philippines has established itself as a regional hub for cryptocurrencies in recent years and opened special economic zones in Cagayan for crypto companies in 2018.

In January, the central bank set new guidelines for crypto asset service providers after seeing rapid growth in the use of digital assets over the past three years.