Philippines’ largest bank to offer crypto trading and custody

UnionBank, the Philippines’ largest bank, will add crypto trading and custody to its range of services, writes Bloomberg.

The initiative реализуют in partnership with Swiss custodian Metaco and IBM.

According to Cathy Casas, head of UnionBank’s blockchain group, in five years the average Filipino will allocate 3% to 5% of personal assets to cryptocurrencies (currently 1–2%). A notable portion of the institution’s clients are young people interested in P2E, she added.

UnionBank sees a future in this new line of business. Ms. Casas estimates that around 5% of the local population has interacted with cryptocurrencies.

The bank’s services will also cover tokenised bonds. In December 2020, in partnership with Standard Chartered Bank UnionBank completed testing of a proof of concept for their issuance.

In 2019 the lender issued the PHX stablecoin for settlements with rural banks.

Bloomberg noted that the Philippines central bank has not shown enthusiasm amid the rising popularity of cryptocurrencies. The regulator’s governor, Benjamin Diokno, previously отметил that they pose risks to the financial system due to their use in money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Earlier in August 2021, UnionBank and Hong Kong-based crypto custodian Hex Trust запустили a pilot digital asset custody service.

Subscribe to ForkLog news on Twitter!