Union Bank of Philippines Has Entered the Chat: Crypto Trading Services Now Available

The Union Bank of the Philippines has partnered with METACO, a Swiss cryptocurrency firm, to offer crypto trading services in Bitcoin and Ethereum.

METACO, the digital asset management technology provider, announced today that UnionBank is live on the Harmonize platform to provide crypto trading services. The announcement of the plan that was made in Jan this year is finally live. The UnionBank is the largest bank in the Philippines. According to Henry Aguda, CTO of UnionBank, they are the first regulated bank in Philippines to allow digital currency exchange.

The Philippines is a crypto-enthusiastic country

According to a June 2022 report, over 4% of the Filipino population owns cryptocurrencies.

“The average Filipino will likely hold 3% to 5% of their personal assets in digital tokens such as Bitcoin in five years assuming markets are “stable”. Many crypto investors are young people, some of whom earn tokens from play-to-earn virtual games.” 

Cathy Casas, head of UnionBank’s Blockchain and Application Programming Interface group

Earlier in 2019, UnionBank launched its own stablecoin, PHX, pegged by the Philippine peso. The UnionBank intended PHX to be a medium of exchange and store of value. Later in April 2022, UnionBank expanded to the metaverse by partnering with the metaverse platform Ark of Dreams.

World’s Largest Banks are Bullish on Crypto Trading

UnionBank has joined the roster of some of the world’s largest banks that provide crypto trading facilities. Most recently, a Berlin-based digital bank, N26, said it would start offering crypto trading services to its customers. They partnered with BitPanda to offer crypto trading to their customers.

In late September, Singapore’s largest bank – DBS bank, opened up its crypto trading services. The clients can access the services on the digital exchange, DDEx. The bank allows accredited clients with at least $246,000 in investable assets to trade a few cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. Crypto traders must invest at least $500.

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