Three Crypto Exchanges Granted License in Philippines’ Economic Zone

The Northern Philippines’ Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) recently granted

Three Crypto Exchanges Granted License in Philippines’ Economic Zone

The Northern Philippines’ Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) recently granted a provisional license to three crypto exchanges in the economic zone of Philippines. Following this issuance, CEZA plans to attract an investment of $3 million.  

One of the three crypto exchanges is the Golden Millennial Quickpay Inc. Ltd. (GMQ) that is based out of Hong Kong. It plans to launch its all-new cryptocurrency exchange platform in addition to a business of financial technology solutions in the country. This Hong Kong-based crypto exchange is the first cryptocurrency marketplace on foreign soil that has been allowed to run its operations inside the economic zone of Philippines.

The CEZA Deputy Administrator for Planning and Business Development, Raymundo T. Roquero, explained, “When they apply, they will pay an application fee of $100,000 (P5.35 million) [and a] license fee of $100,000. Then you go into probity checks, then application programming integration (API), which costs an additional $100,000.”

Roquero was also heard speaking at the formal grant of these licenses in Pasay City, revealing that one of these trading platforms was from Thailand while the other two were from Hong Kong. He also added, “These are offshore companies, and they have committed investments of $1 million (P534.6 million) each. GMQ intends to build [its] infrastructure in Sta. Ana, Cagayan…and will have an incubation period of two years, so they are already allowed to operate here in Manila.”

All the Fintech firms that have been pre-approved by CEZA have been allowed to run their operations within the Philippines’ economic zone and run their headquarters from Manila for the time being. However, this set up is temporary to allow these firms the much-needed time to set up their facilities in Cagayan that is almost 649 kilometers from the capital of Manila.

Rest assured, this new grant of licenses for crypto exchanges to operate in the economic zone are definitely bound to broaden their horizons and help them build their companies from the ground up.