Philippines Releases New Crypto Regulations
The Philippines has released new regulations to govern crypto assets recent report says. The new regulation covers areas around buying and selling of cryptocurrencies. Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), a government regulator explained that the new regulations are aimed at the effective regulation of the Crypto industry while protecting its investors’ interests and promoting innovation.
Digital Asset Token Offering (Dato)
The new regulations named Digital Asset Token Offering (Dato) requires creators of all crypto-assets in relation to Initial Coin Offering to provide clear offer documents which carry relevant details of the issuer, accompanying advice, project, certification of experts.
Furthermore, tokens should be listed on a special exchange called Offshore Virtual Currency Exchange (OVCE), which was created for this purpose. Participants are also expected to have confirmed arrangements with Ceza-accredited wallet providers.
The Regulation is in three Categories
The guidelines were separated into 3 levels of digital asset offerings, of which the first level (Tier 1) covers assets and investments that are exceeding 5 million dollars with payments made in digital tokens. Tier 2 covers two range between investments worth 6 million dollars to 10 million, and tier 3 covers investments exceeding 10 million dollars.
The Regulation is for the Good of the Industry
According to the CEO of Ceza, Raul Lambino, the Dato regulation is not aimed at stunting the growth of the cryptocurrency sector, but it was put in place to safeguard its investors and promote innovation.
While explaining this, he said that:
“We aim to provide a clear set of rules and guidelines that will boost innovation while also ensuring proper compliance by actors in the ecosystem,” “We hope that these set of regulatory innovations will promote blockchain and crypto adoption by institutional investors and the financial system.”, he continued.
Also, the government-owned regulator has revealed that it will be working alongside the Asia Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association (Abaca) which is said to be a self-regulatory industry representative body whose duties includes executing and enforcing the regulations. Abaca will also administer a code of conduct among its members which is to report to Ceza, any violation or breach related to OVCE regulations.
