TL;DR:
- The Philippines SEC publicly warned dYdX and six other crypto platforms for operating without registration or authorization in the country.
- Promoters of these platforms may face fines of up to 5 million Philippine pesos (around $89,000) or up to 21 years in prison.
- A regulatory enforcement campaign is underway that has already blocked Coinbase, Gemini and Binance in Philippine territory.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines issued a public alert directed at investors, urging them not to invest in dYdX or six other cryptocurrency trading platforms. According to the regulator, none of the listed entities holds registration or authorization to solicit investments in the country. The list, published on Facebook, includes Aevo, gTrade, Pacifica, Orderly, Deriv and Ostium.
According to the SEC, these platforms would be offering investments to the public in exchange for promised returns, profits or interest, without complying with the regulatory framework for crypto asset service providers (CASPs).
This framework requires companies offering cryptocurrency-related services to obtain licenses and meet capital and operational requirements. Under sections 28 and 73 of the Securities Regulation Code, those who promote these platforms in Philippine territory may be sanctioned with fines of up to 5 million Philippine pesos —equivalent to around $89,000— or prison sentences of up to 21 years, or both.
The Philippines Toughens Its Regulatory Stance
The warning is part of a regulatory strategy that has been escalating for months. On December 24, 2025, Philippine authorities blocked access to Coinbase and Gemini for operating without a local license. Earlier, in 2024, Binance was also blocked after a compliance deadline expired, with additional instructions issued to app stores to remove its app from users’ devices in the country.
In August 2025, the Philippines issued another warning covering ten exchanges, including OKX, Bybit, KuCoin and Kraken, for offering cryptocurrency services without registration. The pattern is clear: the regulatory body is moving from warnings toward effective access restrictions.
Nevertheless, the market continues to move among those operating within the legal framework. During 2025, PDAX partnered with Toku to offer stablecoin salary payments, while digital bank GoTyme launched its crypto services alongside Alpaca, allowing its users to buy and hold digital assets directly from its application.
