Moneybees, a cryptocurrency over-the-counter (OTC) service in the Philippines, opened three new outlets in February in the Trinoma, Glorietta, and Okada branches of Tivoli Money Exchange, a money changer service.
“With the rising demand for cryptocurrency trading and investment, we aim to facilitate P2 billion worth of transaction volume in 2021. To serve more customers, we’re also looking at opening more outlets in malls around the Philippines and partnering with major market players in the remittance and money exchange industry. We target to open 100 outlets by the end of the year,” said Paulo E. Del Puerto, Moneybees chief executive officer, in a statement.
Its other outlets are Monteal Money Changer in Venice Grand Canal Mall, Psulit Money Changer in Intrepid Plaza, Willyn Villarica Jewelry in Market Market, and Erus Maerd Pawnshop and Money Exchange in Resorts World Manila.
In an interview with BusinessWorld, he added that more institutions will embrace cryptocurrency, bitcoin, and blockchain by adding them as part of their assets or using them as part of their technology stack.
“We will see some big companies supporting or even issuing out their own cryptocurrencies,” Mr. Del Puerto said. “This, in turn, can give the general public more access and more confidence in cryptocurrency, making it more acceptable.”
Founded in 2017, the local company provides the technology to make the exchange between currencies and digital currencies accessible to government-licensed money changers with physical outlets. This technology makes it possible for money changers to accept and facilitate cryptocurrency transactions without the risk of market volatility.
Almost all cryptocurrency users with Binance, Bitmex, and other exchange wallets are supported by the platform. Users can transact as much as P5 million in one day. They can also cash out their trading gains from exchanges that don’t have peso cashouts like Binance, Bittrex, and Bitstamp.
The most popular cryptocurrencies in the Philippines are Bitcoin and Ethereum, according to Moneybees, with Bitcoin accounting for the most transactions on its platform.
Moneybees is registered with the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) as a remittance agent with Virtual Currency Exchange (VCE) service. — Patricia B. Mirasol