New Filipino Bitcoin Exchange Targets Remittance Market
A new bitcoin exchange, BuyBitcoin.ph, has officially launched in the Philippines. Unlike many other exchanges popping up around the world, it is not headed by a couple of anonymous coders working out of a garage. BuyBitcoin.ph, co-founded by four bitcoin enthusiasts from all corners of the globe, doesn't want to be 'just another exchange'. It appears the company is pinning its hopes on remittances, which makes a lot of sense. There are an estimated 2.2 million Filipino expats around the world, and last year they sent over $13.9bn back home. This is obviously a huge untapped market. Where....
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Universal bitcoin company Satoshi Citadel Industries' Rebit.ph has partnered with California-based global transaction network and money transfer platform ZipZap to enable Filipino expat workers in Canada to send money back to the Philippines using the ZipZap payment application. Filipino workers spend around USD$2 billion in transaction and conversion fees when sending money back to their families. The remittance services and outlets such as Western Union and Lhuiller (Filipino Local Remittance Service) can be extremely expensive and inefficient, as it requires 5 percent to 12 percent of....
The practically non-existent start-up ecosystem in Philippines has suddenly sprung to life. Thanks to the bitcoin revolution, the number of start-ups, particularly cryptocurrency related ones is increasing from the past couple of years. The success of Bitcoin in Philippines can be attributed to the social and economic factors. The two main factors that has led to a bitcoin boom in Philippines: Philippines has a huge remittance market. Like China and India, there are many Filipino emigrant workers employed across the world. Like in any other developing countries, even the emigrant Filipinos....
Filipino Bitcoin startup Satoshi Citadel Industries (SCI), has raised an additional US$100,000 as part of its ongoing seed funding round. Through this investment, serial entrepreneur Joe Maristela hopes to encourage other angel investors to consider putting money into the Philippines’ burgeoning tech industry. Commenting on the new fundraising, John Bailon, CEO and co-founder at SCI, told CoinTelegraph: "It’s refreshing to have an investor like Mr. Maristela, who maintains a proactive involvement with us and shares our passion for Bitcoin and what it can do for the Philippines. His....
The Philippines has the world's third largest remittance market just behind India and China, with overseas remittances reaching more than $25.1 billion in 2013. But due to the country's poor banking systems and expensive remittance services, overseas Filipino workers and the local workers working far from their provinces have always searched for alternative systems for transferring cash. For generations, remittance services including Lhuiller and Palawan Pawnshop dominated the market in the Philippines, despite its high transaction fees. On average, the fees are close to 10 percent for....
When I first interviewed Miguel regarding Rebit, I was intrigued not just from a journalist standpoint, but as a Filipino. Sending money is quite expensive, especially when using conventional services, such as Xoom or Western Union. So when Miguel agreed to allow me to test the service, I was thrilled. Bitcoin is a great candidate for remittance, as the low fee required to send (known as the miners fee, currently around $0.06) and the near-instant transaction speeds fix traditional remittance services downfalls. The process is just as easy as it is explained in my interview with Rebit, I....