Coins.ph stablecoin utility: QRPh payments with USDT/USDC amid BSP crypto crackdown

Coins.ph’s Global Marketing Director Amira Alawi says the platform is pushing stablecoin utility to make crypto usable for everyday Filipinos—“so simple that your lola can use it.” At the Coins.ph Merchant Crawl in BGC, users paid for lunch and other items via QRPh using USDT and USDC. Alawi frames stablecoin utility as a solution to high OFW remittance costs and as a way to shift demand from speculative trading to daily digital payments. She says payment in PHP is supported (users don’t need to manually convert), while users who hold stablecoins can spend them directly. Coins.ph also positions QRPh as the core merchant/payment layer, with work underway to broaden to more payment rails such as cards. On regulation, Alawi comments on BSP’s advisory warning consumers against unauthorized Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), arguing that compliance and education are key for mainstream adoption. She highlights that other countries and governments are increasingly using crypto concepts, but local uncertainty remains. She also notes Coins.ph’s regional activity (including Thailand, Brazil, Mauritius, with a Hong Kong launch planned) and says the experience should work nationwide where QRPh is available, while acknowledging connectivity challenges in provinces. For traders: this is not a new token launch, but a renewed adoption narrative around stablecoin utility (USDT/USDC) and QRPh payments. It may support stablecoin liquidity sentiment in the Philippines, while BSP enforcement risk keeps the broader market cautious.