With the new cryptocurrency regulatory rules officially in effect, the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it will take enforcement action against cryptocurrency trading platforms operating without permission. Several international exchanges have been named, including OKX, ByBit, and Bitget, and the Philippine SEC has directly urged the public to avoid using these unregistered platforms.

According to an announcement from the Philippine SEC on August 4, these platforms are still being used locally without registration, and in some cases, actively promoting their services to the public in the Philippines. The announcement specifically named Mexc, KuCoin, and Kraken, and added that there are other unnamed operators also active locally.

Since July 5, the Philippines has implemented new regulations on the cryptocurrency industry, requiring all operators providing cryptocurrency services to obtain legal authorization and implement several compliance measures, including establishing a comprehensive Anti-Money Laundering (AML) system, a suspicious transaction reporting mechanism, and a Know Your Customer (KYC) procedure.

This is not the first time the Philippines has taken a tough stance on cryptocurrency exchanges. As early as March 2024, the Philippine SEC blocked local users' access to Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, citing a lack of operating license. Even to this day, Binance has not obtained permission to operate legally in the Philippines.

In response to the warnings from Philippine authorities, Bitget's Chief Legal Officer Hon Ng pointed out that Bitget takes the SEC's statement very seriously and is actively studying the announcement's content, emphasizing that the platform is committed to obtaining legal operating licenses in all its markets; OKX, on the other hand, declined to respond; as of the time of writing, ByBit, Mexc, KuCoin, and Kraken have not made formal responses to media inquiries.

"New cryptocurrency regulations in the Philippines! OKX, Bybit, and Bitget named for operating without permission" was first published on (Blockcast).