Policy Event Β· Medium impact

Philippines Scrutinizes Binance BlockShoals VASP Sandbox Structure

Philippine coverage of the BlockShoals-Binance sandbox plan highlighted that neither BlockShoals nor Binance holds an active BSP VASP authority and that SEC sandbox participation does not replace separate central-bank licensing for transaction rails. The issue clarifies the licensing boundary for exchange market re-entry under StratBox testing.

Medium impactπŸ‡΅πŸ‡­ PhilippinesLicensingExchangeBinanceBlockShoalsPhilippines SECBangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

APAC FINSTAB analysis

For APAC operators, this creates a medium-impact signal around licensing, exchange in Philippines. Named institutions or platforms: Binance, BlockShoals, Philippines SEC, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Teams should monitor the original source, map the change to licensing, custody, disclosure, and market-access obligations, and update their jurisdiction playbooks before the next compliance review.

Compliance read-through: map this event to entity licensing, market-access, custody, disclosure, token listing, and operational-risk obligations before expanding or marketing in the affected jurisdiction.

View related Licensing tracker page β†’

Related policy events

Bitcoin Life Receives Guernsey Insurance Licence For Bitcoin Bond Product

Bitcoin Life, trading as Perpetual21 Limited, received a Guernsey international long-term life insurance licence and launched a regulated Bitcoin insurance bond with BitGo Europe custody. The structure puts BTC wealth-transfer products inside an insurance, custody and prudential-supervision perimeter.

Medium impact🌐 GGLicensingCustodyRegulationBTC

CFTC Extends Phantom No-Action Relief To Passive Software Providers

The CFTC Market Participants Division issued Staff Letter 26-25, extending the Phantom no-action position to similarly situated passive software providers that connect users to derivatives markets without acting as brokers. The relief lowers registration pressure for wallets and front ends, but active routing, custody, fee-sharing and solicitation remain compliance triggers.

High impactπŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ United StatesRegulationLicensingDeFiExchange

OFAC Sanctions Iranian Digital Asset Exchange BitBank And Related Parties

OFAC sanctioned Iranian digital asset exchange BitBank, its developer Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company and three associated individuals, linking the platform to Babak Zanjani's sanctions-evasion network. Exchanges and payment firms should refresh sanctions screening, wallet attribution and Iran-related flow controls.

High impactπŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ United States🌐 IRAMLEnforcementRegulationExchangeBTC

SEC Grants Five-Year Innovation Exemption For Tokenized NMS Stock Venues

The SEC granted temporary conditional exemptive relief allowing eligible U.S. tokenized securities venues to trade tokenized NMS stocks through permissioned AMM liquidity pools. The five-year pilot creates a regulated pathway for tokenized equities while leaving synthetic stock tokens and shareholder-rights gaps outside the relief.

High impactπŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ United StatesRegulationTokenizationLicensingExchangeRWA