Local Philippine news outlets are reporting that the Philippine UnionBank, one of the country’s largest commercial banks, has launched a cryptocurrency ATM. Furthermore, such an ATM would represent the first cryptocurrency ATM in the country.



UnionBank launches two-way cryptocurrency ATM



Specifically, this news comes from Philstar, a local news platform. According to the publication, this particular machine is described as being a ”two-way virtual currency automated teller machine (ATM), allowing customers to purchase and sell virtual currencies for cash via an ATM machine as part of its sandbox.”



Moreover, UnionBank has reportedly clarified that this ATM comes as part of a wider push towards supplying Filipinos with ”innovative solutions” that adhere to local regulations.



In fact, the deployment of the machine has been coordinated in collaboration with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central bank of the Republic of the Philippines.



”In the bank’s continued quest to cater to the evolving needs and tastes of customers, including clients who use virtual currency, the ATM will provide these clients an alternative channel to convert their pesos to virtual currency and vice versa.”



This comes as an ongoing push towards cryptocurrencies in the Philippines. The country’s central bank has previously taken a proactive stance when it comes to the matter of cryptocurrencies.



The Philippines’ central bank recognizes cryptocurrencies



For example, the Philippines was one of the first countries in the world to implement regulation categorizing cryptocurrencies as a recognized remittance method and asset class.



Specifically, this was done by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas through the so-called ”Circular 944” which is dated February 6th, 2017. This circular demanded that virtual currency exchanges register with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and recognized them as remittance and transfer companies.



Although the bank has only launched a single cryptocurrency ATM in the country as of yet, it intends to evaluate the overall demand from the market and users. Moreover, if the performance of the cryptocurrency ATM ends up being satisfactory, it is likely that UnionBank will deploy more cryptocurrency ATM in the future.



This cryptocurrency ATM is expected to increase cryptocurrency liquidity, as well as improve the general accessibility of virtual currencies in the area.



Furthermore, UnionBank’s CEO – Edwin Bautista – is well-known for his fondness for cryptocurrencies, which makes it likely that the bank will continue to deploy cryptocurrency ATMs. As always, it remains to be seen exactly how this plays out.

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