[L-R] Arlone Abello (Coach Miranda Miner), CEO of Global Miranda Miner Group; Patrick Lao, Head of Retail at PDAX; John Garcia, Head of Strategic and Market Education Ventures at GCash; and Alden Yburan, Head of GCrypto, at The Crypto Roundtable
On a panel that brought together some of the most recognizable names in the Philippine crypto market, one message came through clearly: tighter regulation is a sign of growth, and growth now has to be matched by market literacy. The Crypto Roundtable, held on 30 September 2026, gathered Arlone Abello, CEO of Global Miranda Miner Group (GMMG) and Founding Chairman of the Innovative Movement of the Philippine Association of Crypto Traders (IMPACT), alongside John Garcia, Head of Strategic and Market Education Ventures at GCash, Alden Yburan, Head of GCrypto, and Patrick Lao, Head of Retail at PDAX.
The conversation was shaped by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and its draft circular, released for consultation earlier in September. The draft would suspend new registrations of Operators of Payment Systems (OPS) for 12 months while the central bank reviews its licensing framework, and it would require payment firms to deal with regulated virtual asset service providers (VASPs) only through direct arrangements, with enhanced due diligence, monitoring, and transaction and settlement limits.
Abello did not treat this as a setback. “A pause on new licenses and closer controls on virtual asset service providers are not a step back for crypto. They are what happens when an industry grows up,” Abello said. “When every payment can be traced to a real business, users, banks and partners can deal with crypto platforms with the same confidence they have in any other financial service. That is how the industry earns its place in mainstream finance. Our job now is to make sure users mature at the same pace.”
He was just as direct about what regulation cannot do. It can strengthen safeguards, he said, but it cannot by itself make people better investors. Without stronger financial literacy, market participants may still face losses even in a regulated market, which makes education an important complement to regulatory oversight.
GMMG CEO Arlone Abello shares insights in a panel discussion on crypto identity, financial and market literacy
The stakes are tied to scale. About 10% of Filipinos now use crypto, and users are projected to reach nearly 12.8 million this year. The appeal is easy to understand in a country where about 76% of the population is unbanked or underbanked. For many newcomers, crypto is one of their first experiences of investing, which makes understanding risk all the more important.
The faces in the market have changed, too. Abello described a shift away from the play-to-earn boom that drove early adoption. Today the market draws traders moving across from gold and equities, professionals applying familiar investment approaches to crypto, and younger Filipinos building crypto into their wider financial plans. “Reaching this level of participation shows that crypto is no longer just a niche interest. As the ecosystem grows, users also need to become more disciplined in how they understand risks, manage exposure, and make decisions in the market,” Abello said.
GMMG, founded in 2021 and built on a principle it calls the “Culture of Malasakit,” said it will continue working with industry partners and regulators to expand education in technical analysis, risk management, market behavior and disciplined trading. The next edition of The Crypto Roundtable will be held in November 2026. More information is available at globalmirandaminer.com.
