Philippine cybersecurity experts recently warned that cryptocurrencies are becoming a new "invisible channel" for cross-border crime. Particularly in the case of the kidnapping and murder of Filipino-Chinese entrepreneur Guo Congyuan, the ransom was transferred through a virtual wallet, which has drawn high attention from all sectors of society to the regulatory loopholes of crypto assets.
The co-chair of the Information and Communication Technology Committee of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), Reyner Villaseñor, publicly stated on May 27 that a large number of unauthorized cryptocurrency platforms are being abused by international criminal groups, becoming "money laundering transit stations" and "highways for illegal funds." He pointed out that these platforms operate with high anonymity, and the flow of funds is almost untraceable, becoming an important tool for crimes such as extortion, drug trafficking, and human trafficking.
According to statistics, in 2024 alone, regulated financial institutions have suffered losses of 5.82 billion pesos due to cybercrime.
Villaseñor specifically mentioned the shocking case of Guo Congyuan in the Chinese community, stating that the 200 million pesos ransom was transferred through multiple crypto wallets and anonymous platforms, making it extremely difficult for the police to trace due to encryption technology. According to the investigation by the Philippine National Police, the funds involved initially flowed out from the "Jiuding Group" and "Some Association" platforms, then were encrypted and transferred through more than ten accounts, and finally flowed into multiple virtual wallets, making it difficult to pinpoint the endpoint.
The case is currently being handled by the Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), which continues to trace the chain of funds.
Facing the increasingly rampant crypto asset crimes, Villaseñor proposed two urgent recommendations:
Blocking illegal platforms: He urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and the Central Bank of the Philippines to join forces to forcibly remove all unregistered cryptocurrency applications to prevent their continued operation within the Philippines.
Nationwide cyber fraud education: He advocated for the government to implement access restrictions at the Internet Service Provider (ISP) level and promote a nationwide "Digital Literacy Enhancement Plan" to improve the public's ability to recognize scams and the risks of virtual assets.
In fact, the Philippine authorities have already begun to take action. Earlier this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission formally requested the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to block Binance, one of the world's largest trading platforms, for operating unregistered and allegedly providing illegal investment services to the Philippine public.
It is worth noting that Binance's founder, Zhao Changpeng, pleaded guilty last year in the United States for violating anti-money laundering regulations and paid a fine of over 4 billion US dollars before announcing his resignation, triggering a global crypto regulation storm.
Meanwhile, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) also promised to assist the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in dealing with the crime pattern of using cryptocurrencies for drug transactions—including the increasingly common use of the stablecoin USDT (Tether) for anonymous settlements.
As virtual currencies permeate various criminal activities, various sectors of Philippine society have increasingly called on the government to quickly improve relevant legislation and regulatory mechanisms to plug this growing "black hole."
