Binance has moved a step closer to returning to the Philippine market after the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission granted final approval for its local partner BlockShoals Technologies to begin regulatory sandbox testing.
Summary
- The Philippine SEC has granted final sandbox approval to BlockShoals, moving Binance closer to a regulated return to the local market.
- BlockShoals will complete a 90 day integration with a licensed local provider before Binance backed user onboarding begins.
- The approval covers SEC sandbox testing, while separate BSP licensing requirements for crypto services remain in place.
In a post on X, Binance co-founder and Chief Customer Service Officer Yi He said the exchange had officially entered the Philippine market, while an accompanying SEC document showed that BlockShoals Technologies Inc. had received final approval to launch financial product and service testing under the Commission’s Strategic Regulatory Sandbox (Stratbox) framework.
SEC approves sandbox rollout
Under the approval, BlockShoals will operate using a crypto-asset intermediary model that allows users in the Philippines to access selected products and services through its global crypto-asset service provider partner, Binance.
The SEC document stated that BlockShoals must first complete system integration with a local virtual asset service provider during an initial 90-day phase before proceeding with the approved testing program.
Once that integration is completed, the testing plan will move forward under regulatory oversight and applicable safeguards, including user registration and onboarding through Binance as its global CASP partner, according to the SEC approval.
The final approval follows the SEC’s earlier clearance of BlockShoals’ Stratbox application in November 2025, after the company fulfilled the remaining regulatory requirements set by the Commission.
BSP licensing question remains
The latest SEC approval comes weeks after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas clarified that neither Binance nor BlockShoals currently holds a Virtual Asset Service Provider license required for certain crypto payment and transaction services.
As previously reported by crypto.news, the BSP said participation in the SEC’s Stratbox program does not replace the need for a separate central bank license because the two regulators oversee different parts of the country’s financial sector. The central bank also noted that BlockShoals would need to integrate with a licensed domestic VASP before onboarding users through Binance’s infrastructure could begin.
While Yi He described the development as Binance’s official entry into the Philippines, the SEC approval itself authorizes BlockShoals to begin sandbox testing and identifies Binance as its global CASP partner. The document does not state that Binance has obtained a Philippine VASP license.
Binance has been working to strengthen its regulatory position in several jurisdictions. On July 1, the exchange told affected European Union users that withdrawals and other account options would remain available as MiCA-related service changes took effect, while it continued pursuing authorization to operate under the bloc’s new crypto rules.
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