RCBC: Only 3–4 Philippine Banks Serve Crypto Exchanges as Stablecoins Move Toward Retail
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) executive Ryan Tongson said at the Asian Banking & Finance and Insurance Asia Summit 2026 that blockchain use in Philippine banks remains focused on wholesale functions (liquidity management and cross-border wholesale payments), and that only three to four major banks currently provide services to crypto exchanges. Tongson expects consumer-level adoption — including stablecoins as a retail funding and payment method — to become mainstream as regulations and compliance mature. RCBC is preparing to use stablecoins for 24/7 cross-border transfers and is expanding its remittance arm to more than 80 partner corridors across 25 countries within five years. The bank has prior blockchain initiatives dating to 2018 (Japanese bank partnerships) and 2019 (IBM/World Wire stablecoin plans), and in 2025 participated in plans for a multi-bank peso stablecoin (PHPX) on Hedera. The article notes two Philippine banks holding Virtual Asset Service Provider licenses and offering crypto features: GoTyme Bank (in-app crypto buy/sell) and UnionBank (crypto wallet rollout). Key implications: limited banking partners create an on-ramp bottleneck for exchanges and stablecoin-driven remittance rails are a strategic priority for RCBC.
Neutral
The news highlights infrastructure constraints (only 3–4 banks serving exchanges) that create on-ramp friction for crypto trading in the Philippines, which is a structural negative for liquidity and user growth. However, RCBC’s active push toward stablecoin-based remittances and its history of blockchain initiatives are constructive for longer-term utility and fiat-crypto rails. Short-term market impact: likely neutral to mildly negative for local exchange volume and retail adoption, as limited banking partners can throttle new user inflows and fiat liquidity. Traders might see localized spreads or cash-out delays but broader crypto markets (BTC, ETH, major alts) are unlikely to move materially on this domestic operational bottleneck. Long-term impact: potentially bullish for stablecoin-related projects and banks that broaden crypto services; improved remittance rails could increase crypto utility and on-chain volume if more banks join. Historical parallels include jurisdictional banking bottlenecks (e.g., US/UK banking frictions for crypto firms) that suppressed local exchange growth but did not drive major price moves globally; when banking access later expanded, on-chain activity and local adoption rose. Therefore, expect limited short-term disruption for global markets, with potential gradual upside for stablecoin usage and local crypto liquidity if policy and bank participation improve.