MANILA, Philippines – Coins.ph, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the Philippines, has partnered with HashKey Exchange, one of Hong Kong’s top licensed virtual asset platforms, to build what they call a “24/7 crypto-powered bridge” between the two regions. The goal: faster, cheaper, and more accessible remittances between Hong Kong and the Philippines.
Using cryptocurrency, the hope is to make the billions in cross-border remittances faster, cheaper, and easier to access. From January to May 2025 alone, Filipinos abroad sent US$13.77 billion in cash remittances through banks, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. US$357 million of that came from Hong Kong, a longtime hub for overseas Filipinos.
Through this partnership, Coins.ph users in the Philippines and HashKey users in Hong Kong will soon be able to move money directly between Philippine pesos and Hong Kong dollars using their respective platforms. These transfers will use regulated crypto infrastructure, meaning users get to circumvent traditional remittance intermediaries. For OFWs and their families, this could translate to lower fees, instant transfers, and fewer hoops to jump through.
“This partnership is a game-changer not only for crypto users but for the millions of Filipinos with strong ties to Hong Kong,” said Wei Zhou, chief executive officer of Coins.ph, in a press release. “We’re building a 24/7 crypto-powered bridge between the two regions. This is a major step forward in making remittances faster, cheaper, and more accessible for everyone.”
Although the integration is still rolling out, the roadmap goes beyond retail users. The companies also plan to onboard businesses and institutions to enable cross-border B2B payments and eventually expand coverage through Coins.ph’s global arm, Coins.xyz, and Coins Brazil.
Coins.ph already holds licenses in Europe, Latin America, Australia, and Africa. As early as January 2024, CEO Wei Zhou had hinted at expansion plans targeting OFW-heavy markets like Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong. But instead of going it alone in expensive regulatory environments — where licenses can run into the “millions of dollars” — Zhou said the company aimed to “leverage off of [other firms’] licenses and their partnerships in those regions to provide our services.” Their latest tie-up with HashKey seems to have been exactly according to their game plan.
While crypto might reshape remittances, the success of these new corridors hinges on accessibility, usability, and stability. That’s where Coins.ph’s own stablecoin comes in.
If you haven’t heard of PHPC, here’s the gist: it’s a Philippine peso-pegged stablecoin developed by Coins.ph, designed to offer the benefits of cryptocurrency without the price volatility of assets like Bitcoin or Ethereum.
In June 2025, PHPC exited the BSP’s Regulatory Sandbox Framework, meaning it’s now fully cleared to operate under broader regulatory oversight. With the sandbox period over, PHPC can now scale to meet the needs of larger users and higher transaction volumes.
“We can now unlock PHPC’s full potential, particularly in areas where Filipinos need it most — remittances and cross-border transactions,” Zhou said.
Backed 1:1 by pesos held in Philippine bank accounts, PHPC offers a direct and digital equivalent to fiat cash. According to Coins.ph, these crypto remittances through stablecoins “enables faster, cheaper, and more accessible transfers by eliminating traditional banking intermediaries, reducing processing times from days to minutes, and allowing recipients to access funds without requiring traditional bank accounts.”
PHPC’s expanded minting capacity, now unrestricted by the sandbox, also makes it easier to support larger transactions and develop new applications. That could mean getting a step closer to the stablecoin being used for merchant payments or institutional cross-border settlements. – Rappler.com
