One of the largest banks in the Philippines, the Union Bank is officially launching the first two-way crypto ATM in the country according to the crypto news from local media outlet Philstar reported a few days ago.
Launching the ATM will allow all customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies for cash as a part of the previously explained ‘’sandbox’’ which is a framework for experiment conducting in a controlled environment. The report doesn’t say anything about which digital currencies will be available on the ATM.
However, the system seems to be in compliance with the current regulations and it comes as a result of the collaboration between the country’s Central Bank Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Union Bank. The article notes a statement released by the bank saying that the ATM will provide the users with an alternative way to convert their cash money to virtual currency and the other way around.
Phistar also notes that the Union Bank reported about $140 million in Philippine pesos in earnings for 2018. The bank is among the top ten biggest banks in the country according to the value of assets. The BSP is regulating for quite some time some of the local Philippine crypto exchanges and is recognizing cryptocurrencies as a real payment method since the Circular 944 published document in February 2017.
Currently, there are some interesting regulatory happenings in the country as the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority designed to regulate the crypto industry in order for all investors to be protected.