CEBU, Philippines – With the advent of technology, the financial system is one sector that has seen recent innovations in terms of the way payments are done.
It has been reported that 73 percent of the Philippine population has remained unbanked; meaning, majority of the population does not have access to basic financial services and products.
Filipinos, however, are said to be the most technology and telecommunications savvy in the world. This is an opportunity that is seen to connect those financially savvy and the underserved ones.
The use of the digital currency or commonly known as bitcoin is thought to be one of the solutions to bridge the gap. Bitcoin is described as a digital money that is only traded in the internet and is a new means of paying for things.
Players in the bitcoin industry said the E-peso Bill, which was recently proposed in Congress, strengthens the bitcoin -- an idea that has led to the existence of coinage.ph, the nation's first order book bitcoin exchange. It is an order book platform exchange for bitcoin and Philippine peso. It is a site that caters to a specific market of bitcoin and peso traders.
Industry players noted the bitcoin community in the country is growing, considering the rising number of people who are active on various social media groups.
Bitcoin trading has already attracted different people who are finance professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, young traders, OFWs, the curious minds, among others.
In a statement, Coinage Founder Anthony Giovanni Chua said "an order book exchange is crucial to establishing bitcoin in the Philippines."
He believes that knowing the value of the local currency is vital for the success of bitcoin ecosystem in the country. The exchange platform allows the discovery of price of the Philippine peso.
"We eliminate our dependence on foreign exchanges, which peg the bitcoin value to foreign currencies, especially the US dollar. With coinage, we are able to establish the real Filipino price, based on whatever we want to sell or buy it for," he explained.
Coinage.ph is part of the Satoshi Citadel industries group of companies. SCI has several bitcoin firms and is into payment processing, remittance, bills payment, bitcoin faucets and prepaid bitcoin products.
Today, Coinage has over 200 signups and trades are growing exponentially by the day. They are promoting a 0 percent transaction fee until November 5, 2014, to make trades even more exciting and affordable. — With PR