By Staff Writer
BitMEX Ventures, the investment arm of the HK-based BitMEX cryptocurency exchange, had made an investment of undisclosed sum into a crypto exchange platform the Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX).
The move is largely seen as an endorsement of the promising future of the cryptocurrency sector in the country as well as its relatively crypto-friendly policies.
The Philippines legitimized Bitcoin as a remittance method in February 2017.
PDAX, which allows its customers to deal with both fiat and cryptocurrencies, received the virtual currency exchange license from the central bank Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in September last year.
Virtual currencies are seen as an easy way for many migrant Filipinos to send wages they have earned overseas back to their country.
The investment is aimed to help make PDAX more viable as well as opening the doors to other forms of digital assets, including the trading of commodities, real estate equities, and even debt securities, said a statement released by PDAX.
“Driven by our goal to improve financial inclusion, we are launching a platform for the open-market trading of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets,” the statement said.
In a statement posted on medium, BitMEX chief executive Arthur Hayes pointed out that there is a substantial volume of cryptocurrency traded in the Philippines.
“We are confident in the transformative potential of cryptocurrency and PDAX’s ability to widen access to the Philippine market and provide the tools to learn more about financial markets,” Hayes said.
“Through digital assets and blockchain, we want to even the playing field to give every Filipino from all walks of life the ability to grow their hard-earned wealth,” explained Nichel Gaba, co-founder, and chief executive of the company. “With the support of BitMEX and by leveraging blockchain technology, we hope to create a digital financial market that is accessible to everyone.”
So far the Central Bank of the Philippines has given a license to ten crypto exchanges. The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza), which is a government-backed free trade zone located in the Northern tip of the Phillippines, has issued 24 licenses to Bitcoin exchanges of its own, raising the total number of licensed exchanges in the Philippines to 34.
