Exchange review · South & Southeast Asia
Coins.ph Review 2027: Is It the Right Exchange for You?
Coins.ph is the best-known crypto platform in the Philippines and, for many Filipinos, a general-purpose mobile wallet as much as an exchange. Users can pay bills, buy mobile load, send money and trade cryptocurrencies from one app. The company is licensed by the Philippine central bank and reports customers in the tens of millions.
This 2027 review explains the app's two roles, its costs, its regulation and the hack it experienced in 2023.
A Wallet That Became an Exchange
Coins.ph was founded in 2014 by Ron Hose and Runar Petursson. Its original mission was financial inclusion: giving people without bank accounts a way to hold money and make payments with a phone, with bitcoin as part of the infrastructure. It grew into one of the country's major e-wallets.
In 2019 the Indonesian ride-hailing company Gojek acquired the business. In 2022 it was bought by Wei Zhou, a former chief financial officer of Binance, who became chief executive. Under his leadership the company has put crypto trading back at the centre, expanded its exchange and launched a peso stablecoin.
What You Can Do in the App
Coins.ph combines everyday payments with crypto.
- Peso wallet. Cash in through banks, e-wallets and thousands of partner outlets, and cash out to bank accounts or remittance centres.
- Bills and load. Pay utility bills and buy prepaid mobile credit.
- Money transfers to other users and bank accounts.
- Crypto conversion. Buy and sell a range of cryptocurrencies with pesos in a couple of taps.
- Coins Pro. A full spot exchange with an order book, charts and lower fees.
- Futures, available to eligible users through the group's licensed entities.
- PHPC, a stablecoin pegged to the Philippine peso and backed by peso reserves, developed under the central bank's regulatory sandbox.
- Remittances from abroad using crypto and stablecoin rails.
For a country with a huge overseas workforce and many people outside the formal banking system, the combination is practical. A family member abroad can send stablecoins, and the recipient can convert them to pesos and pay bills from the same app.
- Spot fee
- —maker / taker, base tier
- Founded
- 201413 years in 2027
- Trust score
- 7 / 10CoinGecko, live
- Proof of reserves
- —licensed or registered
Fees
Costs depend on how you trade.
The simple conversion feature shows a buy and a sell price with a spread between them. It is easy and relatively expensive.
Coins Pro charges maker and taker fees on a tiered schedule that falls with 30-day volume. The rates are competitive for a locally licensed exchange, and stablecoin-to-peso pairs have often been offered at low or zero fees to encourage use.
Cash-in is free through many channels, while some outlets and methods carry a charge. Cash-out fees vary by channel. Crypto withdrawals cost a network-based fee.
Regular traders should move from the conversion screen to Coins Pro. The saving on each trade is significant.
Regulation by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
The Philippines was an early mover in regulating crypto businesses. The central bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), has licensed virtual asset service providers for several years. Coins.ph holds both a virtual asset service provider licence and an electronic money issuer licence, which few companies in Asia can claim.
Licensed providers must meet capital requirements, apply customer verification and transaction monitoring, safeguard customer assets and report to the central bank. The BSP stopped accepting new applications for such licences for a period, which has limited competition and increased the value of existing licences.
The securities regulator has also taken action against unlicensed foreign exchanges that served Filipinos, and access to some has been blocked. For residents, using a BSP-licensed platform is the lawful and safer route.
The October 2023 XRP Hack
On 17 October 2023 an attacker exploited a vulnerability and withdrew about 12 million XRP, worth roughly $6 million, from a Coins.ph hot wallet within about half an hour. The funds were moved through several other exchanges and services.
The company stated that customer balances were not affected and that it would bear the loss. It worked with the foundation behind the XRP Ledger and with other exchanges to trace and freeze part of the funds, and it reported the incident to the authorities.
For a company of its size, the loss was manageable, and the response was orderly. It showed, as hot wallet incidents always do, that funds kept online for withdrawals are exposed. Coins.ph says that it has since strengthened its wallet controls.
Security for Users
The exchange supports two-factor authentication, biometric login and transaction PINs. Enable them.
The larger danger in the Philippines is fraud aimed at users. Common schemes include:
- Text messages with links to fake Coins.ph login pages.
- "Investment" groups that promise daily returns if you send crypto.
- Job scams that ask you to receive and forward funds through your wallet, which can make you a money mule.
- Callers pretending to be support staff.
Coins.ph will not ask for your password, one-time codes or PIN. Never lend your verified account to someone else. Accounts used for fraud are frozen, and the registered owner bears the consequences.
Understanding PHPC
A peso stablecoin may seem pointless when you already hold pesos in the app. Its purpose is movement. PHPC can be sent on public blockchains, traded against other crypto assets and used to settle international transfers at any hour, then redeemed one-to-one for pesos in a Coins.ph wallet.
For most users it will work in the background, making remittances and trading cheaper. If you hold it directly, the considerations are those of any stablecoin: who holds the reserves, how redemption works and which networks are supported. PHPC was developed under BSP oversight, with reserves held in Philippine banks.
Opening an Account
Coins.ph is designed for residents of the Philippines. Registration requires a mobile number, and verification levels determine your limits. Basic verification needs a government ID and a selfie. Higher levels may require proof of address and a short video call.
The app runs well on inexpensive phones and limited data connections. Customer support is provided in English and Filipino through in-app chat and email. When cashing in through a partner outlet, keep the receipt until the pesos appear in your wallet, since it carries the reference number support will ask for if anything goes wrong.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
- Dual licences from the central bank.
- Payments, remittances and crypto in one app.
- An extensive network for cashing in and out.
- A proper exchange, Coins Pro, with competitive fees.
Weaknesses:
- Spreads on simple conversions.
- A hot wallet hack in 2023.
- A shorter coin list and thinner books than global exchanges.
- Account limits tied to verification level.
Who Is Coins.ph For?
Coins.ph suits Filipinos who want a licensed, convenient way to buy and sell crypto with pesos, families who receive remittances, and anyone who wants payments and crypto in a single app. Coins Pro serves more active traders.
Those seeking a very wide choice of tokens or advanced derivatives will find more on global platforms, though these lack local licences and peso rails.
Coins.ph Compared With Other Options
Other BSP-licensed exchanges and e-wallets in the Philippines offer crypto features, including a rival local exchange and the country's largest e-wallets, which have added crypto buying. Coins.ph has the deepest peso crypto order book among them and the longest experience. Global exchanges offer more products but have faced regulatory action in the Philippines.
Practical Tips
- Trade on Coins Pro with limit orders to avoid conversion spreads.
- Complete higher verification before you need larger limits.
- Use a strong PIN and two-factor authentication.
- Double-check addresses and destination tags, especially for XRP.
- Keep long-term holdings in a personal wallet if you are comfortable managing one.
Verdict on Coins.ph
Coins.ph is a useful, well-licensed platform that fits the needs of Filipino users closely. It covered its 2023 loss without harm to customers and has invested in its exchange and stablecoin infrastructure. Costs are low on Coins Pro and higher in the simple app. For residents of the Philippines it is one of the most practical and legally sound ways to use crypto.