BSP cautions the public against engaging with unregistered and foreign virtual asset service providers

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) strongly urges the public not to deal with Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) that are either unregistered or domiciled abroad.

On top of the inherent risk of price volatility associated with Virtual Assets (VAs), VASPs that are based abroad may present additional challenge on enforcing legal recourse and consumer protection and redress mechanisms for local customers, among others.

The Bangko Sentral further emphasizes that VA dealings are generally considered as high-risk activities which may result in huge financial losses due to price swings.

Further, both the government and registered VASPs do not, in any way, guarantee protection against financial losses stemming from VA price fluctuations.

Recent data likewise suggests that frauds and scams have consistently contributed to a large portion of VA-based crimes.

Thus, the public should exercise caution, conduct their own due diligence, and always be mindful of the risks prior to engaging with VA-related activities.

To verify whether a VASP is supervised and regulated by the Bangko Sentral, the public may verify from the list of BSP-registered VASPs which can be found through this link: https://www.bsp.gov.ph/Lists/Directories/Attachments/19/VASP.pdf