As the world of finance continues to transform, new forms of money are challenging traditional monetary infrastructures that have been around for a long time. Currently, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have caught the eye of various countries, including the Philippines. In a joint event organized by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, Benjamin E. Diokno, the Philippines’ central bank governor, announced the rollout of Project CBDCPh, a pilot implementation of a CBDC for the country. According to Diokno, the project aims to improve “the payment system’s safety, resiliency, and efficiency.” “The project aims to …

One of Southeast Asia’s biggest crypto exchanges is blaming a technical glitch for the price of Bitcoin dropping down to 300,000 Philippine pesos, roughly $6,100, on Feb. 16. An unknown number of customers of the Philippine Digital Assets Exchange, or PDAX, managed to buy thousands of Bitcoin (BTC) from the exchange at a massive discount, making them local currency billionaires on paper — at least for a few hours. A number of PDAX customers withdrew their purchased Bitcoin up to the exchange’s limit on individual accounts of 1 BTC per 24 hours. PDAX is reportedly demanding these users refund BTC …