Phillipines regulators take steps to block Binance

Regulators in the Philippines are taking steps toward blocking local traders’ access to Binance. 

The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Monday in a statement that it has worked on obstructing access to the world’s largest crypto exchange by daily trading volumes because the platform does not have the required regulatory license to operate within its jurisdiction. The agency two weeks ago asked the National  Telecommunications  Commission (NTC) to help block Binance-linked web pages. 

"The group has been actively employing promotional campaigns on social media to attract Filipinos to engage in investment and trading activities using its platforms," but Binance “has not secured from [regulators] a license to solicit investments from the public, nor to create or operate an exchange for the buying and selling of securities," the agency said in the statement. 

Moves by regulators in the Philippines to restrict access to the trading platform don’t come as much of a surprise. Last fall, the country's SEC warned it was planning to block the platform because it had not secured approval to offer investment products to the nation's residents.