Regulators in the Philippines have issued a sharp warning to anyone trading digital assets without proper local approval. Based on reports from the Securities and Exchange Commission, 10 major crypto exchanges are operating in the country without the required registration under the new rules that took effect July 5, 2025. Investors who use these platforms face the risk of losing all their funds if something goes wrong, with no legal backup to turn to. SEC Lists Unregistered Exchanges According to the SEC, Bybit and OKX top the list of unlicensed operators , maintaining full access and active marketing here. Kraken, MEXC, KuCoin, Bitget, Phemex, CoinEx, Bitmart and Poloniex round out the group of 10. All of them offer buying, selling or derivatives trading even though they never filed for a local license under Memorandum Circulars No. 4 and No. 5, Series of 2025. Those circulars mandate crypto-asset service providers to register and comply with disclosure, security and anti-money-laundering standards. Local Access Fuels Worry Even with global compliance efforts surging, the SEC found that most of these platforms run promotional campaigns aimed squarely at Filipino users. Some have mobile apps tailored to local phones, others pay influencers to push discounted trading fees. Website blocking by Binance last month showed the SEC can force global operators to geo-block Philippine IP addresses. Now it plans similar measures against any exchange that stays unlicensed. Trading on unregistered exchanges exposes people to market manipulation and outright scams. Reports have disclosed that identity theft spikes on platforms lacking proper know-your-customer checks. Money Laundering And Reputational Damage Investors who store funds on these services have no recourse if hacks or fraud occur. The commission points out that unlicensed operators aren’t bound to keep user records safe or report suspicious transactions. Regulators also flag the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. Under the Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Act, service providers must perform customer due diligence and report large or suspicious flows. Without local oversight, these exchanges become blind spots. The Financial Action Task Force regularly highlights such gaps, warning that countries allowing unregulated trading can end up on a gray list and suffer reputational hits abroad. Enforcement Actions Coming Philippine SEC officials have threatened to file criminal complaints under the Securities Regulation Code (SRC) and the Financial Cybercrime Prevention Act (FCPA) for any platform that continues without a license. They’ll seek court orders to block offending websites and apps. Google, Apple, Meta and TikTok may also be asked to pull ads and marketing content tied to these exchanges. Cease and Desist orders can arrive within days of a formal complaint. Featured image from Inquirer, chart from TradingView
