MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines have to clamp down on unlicensed cryptocurrency platforms that function the monetary spine of organized crime syndicates working inside and past the nation’s borders.
Reyner Villaseñor, co-chair of the ICT Committee on the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, mentioned that unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges, working with out regulatory oversight, have fueled kidnappings, human trafficking, large-scale scams, in addition to drug and unlawful playing operations.
“Prison syndicates are exploiting regulatory gaps to hold out various unlawful actions, utilizing unlicensed and unregulated cryptocurrency platforms as their instruments,” Villaseñor mentioned.
These shadow platforms, he mentioned, are enabling criminals to maneuver tens of millions in illicit funds with little to no hint — and the implications at the moment are surfacing in deeply alarming methods.
Citing knowledge from the International Anti-Rip-off Alliance, Villaseñor famous that Filipinos misplaced an estimated P460 billion to on-line crime in 2024, equal to 1.9 p.c of the nation’s gross home product. This determine, nevertheless, represents solely a portion of a much wider ecosystem of digitally enabled crimes that reach past purely on-line exercise.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas likewise recorded P5.82 billion in losses in cybercrime incidents amongst supervised monetary establishments in 2024, up by 2.6 p.c from P5.67 billion in 2023.
“These numbers paint a grim image: the Philippines is now within the midst of a digitally enabled crime epidemic – one which requires speedy public vigilance, non-public sector safeguards, and proactive regulatory intervention and regulation enforcement motion,” Villaseñor mentioned.
With out correctly audited know your buyer and anti-money laundering controls — requirements mandated on licensed platforms — these rogue exchanges provide near-total anonymity.
He cited as an example the case of businessman Anson Que, whose P200-million ransom was transformed to cryptocurrency to make tracing efforts troublesome.
Some platforms even present superior obfuscation instruments, corresponding to coin mixers and privacy-centric tokens, intentionally designed to erase digital trails and evade detection.
In response to Villaseñor, whereas native digital asset service suppliers routinely adjust to courtroom orders and freeze illicit wallets, foreign-based unlicensed exchanges routinely reject such requests — hiding behind jurisdictional loopholes and offshore privateness legal guidelines. Their non-cooperation stalls investigations and permits criminals to function with impunity.