Philippines-based fintech Coins.ph has added support for Bitcoin and Ethereum payments within the country’s national QR code system, expanding crypto usability across hundreds of thousands of merchants nationwide.
The integration extends the firm’s existing QRPh-based system, which already supports stablecoin payments, and allows users to spend crypto at participating merchants by scanning QR codes linked to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ national payments standard.
BTC and ETH Now Spendable at 700,000 Merchants
The system operates through QRPh, the national QR payment standard developed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). At checkout, users can pay using crypto balances, which are automatically converted into Philippine pesos in real time.
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Coins.ph said the network reaches an estimated 700,000 merchants across the country, spanning retail, food, and services.
Expansion Builds on Stablecoin Rollout
The latest expansion builds on an earlier rollout that introduced stablecoin payments, including USDT, into the same QR-based infrastructure.
According to Coins.ph, the integration allows users to move between fiat currencies and digital assets within a single checkout process. The company positioned the system as particularly relevant for the Philippines’ remittance market, which processes approximately $38 billion in annual inflows.
Stablecoins have increasingly gained traction for cross-border transfers in the country, allowing recipients to hold digital dollar balances and spend them directly through local payment rails.
Wei Zhou, CEO of Coins.ph, said the expansion reflects the company’s broader push to integrate crypto into daily payments.
“We aren’t just adding new tokens; we are redefining what a digital wallet can do,” Zhou said.
Coins.ph operates as a licensed Virtual Asset Service Provider and Electronic Money Issuer under BSP regulation.
Philippines Remains a Major Crypto Adoption Market
The Philippines ranks among the top crypto-adoption markets globally, with an estimated 15 million users, roughly 13.4% of the population.
The country is also one of the world’s largest remittance recipients, with approximately $38 billion in annual inflows. Stablecoins have played a growing role in cross-border transfers, enabling recipients to hold value in digital dollars and spend locally.
The expansion of QRPh-compatible assets from stablecoins to BTC and ETH places Coins.ph among the few platforms globally where major cryptocurrencies are embedded directly into a national payment standard rather than a private merchant network.
Why This Matters
Embedding Bitcoin and Ethereum into a state-backed national payment standard represents a relatively rare development in real-world crypto payments globally, and positions the Philippines as a live test case for mainstream crypto spending at scale.
For a market with one of the highest crypto usage rates and remittance volumes in the world, the infrastructure alignment between digital assets and everyday transactions carries outsized practical relevance.
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People Also Ask:
QRPh is the Philippines’ national QR code payment standard developed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for interoperable digital payments.
The country has high crypto adoption and significant remittance inflows, making digital asset payment tools more practical for everyday use.
Coins.ph currently supports USDT, Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum (ETH) for payments through the QRPh national QR system.
