Why $150 Million in Crypto Assets Were Frozen in the Philippines

On a quiet Tuesday in May 2025, thousands of Filipino crypto users woke up to find their funds gone-not stolen, not lost, but frozen. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines had acted against 20 unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges, locking down $150 million in digital assets. For many, it wasn’t just money stuck in limbo-it was rent money, school fees, emergency savings. And there was no warning. No email. No phone call. Just a blocked website and a silent wallet.

What Exactly Got Frozen?

The $150 million wasn’t random. It came from platforms that were openly offering crypto trading, staking, and lending to Filipinos without any legal permission. These weren’t offshore shell companies hiding in tax havens. These were apps with Filipino customer support, Tagalog interfaces, and local bank integrations. Platforms like Bitget PH, Binance PH, and several smaller local exchanges had built user bases in the millions, relying on the country’s high crypto adoption rate to grow fast-and quietly.

The SEC didn’t target Bitcoin or Ethereum itself. It targeted the services that handled them. Under new rules issued in January 2025, any company offering crypto trading, custody, or exchange services in the Philippines had to register as a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP). That meant background checks, financial disclosures, anti-money laundering protocols, and customer fund segregation. Most of the blacklisted platforms never applied. Others applied too late. And when the deadline passed, the SEC moved.

The frozen assets broke down like this:

• 68% in stablecoins-mostly USDT and USDC
• 22% in Bitcoin
• 10% in altcoins like Solana, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu

Most of the money sat on Ethereum (45%), Binance Smart Chain (30%), and Tron (15%). That’s important because it means the freeze wasn’t just a legal move-it was a technical one. The SEC worked with blockchain analytics firms to trace transactions and identify wallet addresses tied to the blacklisted platforms. Then they issued legal orders to exchanges, custodians, and even some wallet providers to restrict access.

Why Now? The Three-Year Moratorium That Changed Everything

This crackdown didn’t come out of nowhere. For three years, from September 2022 to September 2025, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) had put a hold on issuing licenses to Virtual Asset Service Providers. The idea? Give regulators time to figure out how to handle crypto without killing innovation. But while the BSP paused, the market exploded.

By early 2025, Filipinos had invested over ₱6 trillion (about $107 billion) in digital assets. Coins.ph alone had over 20 million users. Most of them didn’t care about licenses. They cared about earning interest on their crypto, sending money to family abroad, or buying Bitcoin with GCash. The unlicensed platforms filled that gap perfectly.

But as the September 2025 license expiration date neared, regulators realized they were sitting on a ticking bomb. With no oversight, reports of fraud, Ponzi schemes, and money laundering were rising. Chainalysis estimated that $2.17 billion in crypto had been stolen globally in the first half of 2025-and the Philippines was becoming a hotspot. So the SEC acted before the BSP reopened licensing. This wasn’t just enforcement. It was a cleanup before the gates opened.

Who Got Hurt? The Real People Behind the Numbers

The $150 million sounds like a statistic. But behind it are real stories.

A 67-year-old grandmother in Cebu had $8,000 in USDT she earned from selling handmade crafts online. She used a local exchange because it was easy-no KYC, instant cash-outs to her bank. When the site went dark, she didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t access her wallet. She didn’t understand blockchain. She didn’t know what a transaction hash was.

On Reddit’s r/PhilippinesCrypto, a thread titled “My $15k frozen in Bitget PH-What now?” had over 1,200 upvotes and 387 comments. Most replies were variations of the same thing: “I thought it was safe.” “I followed their instructions.” “I had no idea they weren’t licensed.”

The Philippine Consumer Welfare Association logged 3,215 formal complaints between January and June 2025. Average loss per person? $4,670. For many, that’s more than a year’s salary.

Even those who supported the crackdown admitted the process was brutal. A survey by the Association of Cryptocurrency Enthusiasts of the Philippines found that 78% of users didn’t know about the licensing rules. The SEC had published guidelines, sure-but they were buried in legal jargon on a government website no one visited.

The Recovery Process: Why It’s So Hard to Get Your Money Back

The SEC set up the Crypto Asset Recovery Unit (CARU) to handle claims. Sounds good, right? Here’s how it actually works:

• You must prove you owned the funds with blockchain transaction records
• You must show your ID and proof of address
• You must swear your funds weren’t from illegal activity
• You must submit everything through a government portal that crashes often

By July 2025, only 12% of affected users had completed the process. Why? Because most people didn’t have the tech skills. Older users struggled with digital signatures. Many didn’t save transaction IDs. Others used wallets they didn’t control-like exchange wallets-making it impossible to prove ownership.

Of those who applied, 34% got rejected for incomplete documents. Another 22% were flagged for further review-meaning their funds could stay frozen indefinitely while investigators checked if they were linked to scams.

Even licensed platforms like Coins.ph got overwhelmed. Their support tickets jumped 300%. Resolution times went from 12 hours to 72 hours. Customers were told: “We can’t help you directly. Go to CARU.”

What’s Next? The Road to Licensing and What It Means for You

On September 1, 2025, the BSP’s three-year license moratorium officially ended. On September 15, the first round of CASP applications opened. Only 10 platforms were selected for a “Regulatory Sandbox”-a trial period where they operate under close watch while the full rules are finalized.

Coins.ph, PDAX, and Binance Philippines (after reapplying) were among the first to get approval. Others are still waiting. The SEC says it will start releasing verified funds on November 1, 2025-but only if you’ve completed the process and your case is clean.

Here’s what this means for users:

• Only use platforms with SEC registration. Look for the official CASP logo.
• Never keep large amounts on exchange wallets. Use your own hardware or software wallet.
• Save every transaction ID, wallet address, and receipt-even if the platform says “don’t worry.”
• Don’t trust “guaranteed returns.” If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

The Philippines is now a case study in how fast-growing crypto markets can balance innovation and protection. It’s messy. It’s painful. But it’s also necessary. Without this cleanup, the next wave of crypto adoption could have been destroyed by fraud.

What You Can Do Today

If your crypto is frozen:

1. Go to the SEC’s official Crypto Asset Recovery Portal (sec.gov.ph/caru)
2. Collect all transaction records from your wallet or exchange history
3. Prepare your government-issued ID and proof of address
4. Submit your claim and track status online
5. Join the official SEC Telegram group for updates (search: SEC CARU Updates)

If you’re still trading:

• Check the SEC’s current list of licensed CASPs before depositing funds
• Use only platforms that require KYC-legitimate ones will ask for it
• Never send crypto to a wallet address someone gives you over Facebook or WhatsApp

The $150 million freeze wasn’t about punishing users. It was about cleaning up a system that let bad actors thrive. The real question now isn’t whether the crackdown was right-it’s whether the recovery system will be fair enough to restore trust.