Philippine Banks Turn to Hedera for PHPX Stablecoin
Led by UnionBank of the Philippines, RCBC, Cantilan Bank, and Rural Bank of Guinobatan will be launching PHPX, a peso-backed stablecoin. The endeavor puts forth an aim to innovate cross-border remittances, furthering the stride for financial inclusions in the country. Set to go live anytime from May to July 2025, the stablecoin is developed using Hedera DLT.
The project is being driven by Just Finance, a Singapore-based fintech company with blockchain solutions. Each of the participating banks will be contributing to the governance of the stablecoin in ensuring that the ecosystem remains collaborative and secure.
A Game-Changer for Cross-Border Remittances
UnionBank, via its fintech subsidiary UBX, brings experience from an earlier venture with PHX, a quasi-stablecoin used in a closed-loop payment system. UBX CEO John Januszczak emphasized the broader vision for PHPX, which is to support real-world use cases outside of a closed ecosystem.
First, it will address the very large cross-border remittance market. According to the World Bank, overseas Filipino workers have remitted as much as US$40 billion in 2024 alone-an almost high chunk of the country’s GDP. PHPX reduces friction in this because it will make those transactions real-time.
For instance, such a stablecoin could allow a worker in the United States to pay the tuition of a child in the Philippines instantly and removes congestion and additional transactional costs associated with traditional systems of banking.
Ensuring Global Compliance and Versatility
PHPX is designed to comply with the host of international regulations, such as MiCA from the European Union and the low-risk crypto-asset requirements by the Basel Committee. The initiative meanwhile promises great levels of security, transparency, and compliance through Hedera’s permissioned network.
The project also intends to create a multicurrency stablecoin exchange. In that respect, the exchange is going to allow liquidity for PHPX swaps for US dollar-, Singapore dollar-, and Japanese yen-denominated stablecoins. Other qualified investors such as liquidity providers may also join in extending the reach of the stablecoin.
Later on, PHPX can be extended toward domestic retail transactions like point-of-sale payments to create another layer of utility for the stablecoin.
This will be a groundbreaking partnership that will usher in a new frontier in the Philippines’ financial world by leveraging blockchain for seamless, cross-border transactions and fostering financial inclusion. PHPX will look to set the standard in stablecoin adoption for Southeast Asia while solving real-world problems.
