Philippine-based crypto exchange PDAX raises $12.5m

Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX), a licensed cryptocurrency exchange in the Philippines, announced raising $12.5 million in a funding round led by a UK-based venture capital firm.

The round was also backed by Hong Kong-listed fintech firm BC Group and existing investors, including venture capital firms Beenext Ventures, CMT Digital, global enterprise cryptocurrency leaders such as Ripple, and prominent family offices in the Philippines.

Among PDAX’s local investors is UBX, the ventures arm of leading Filipino digital bank, UnionBank.

PDAX launched its cryptocurrency exchange back in 2018 to provide Filipinos with an accessible platform where they can trade the world’s leading digital assets like Bitcoin safely, directly with PHP, and at globally competitive rates.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the company has seen 25x growth in its user count and an 80x rise in its monthly volumes, proof of the country’s rising cryptocurrency adoption.

In the latter part of 2020, the Philippines’ homegrown tech startup also launched the PDAX mobile app to allow users to more conveniently trade cryptocurrency.

It has also since expanded into tokenized securities, by collaborating with the Bureau of the Treasury and Unionbank in launching Bonds.PH, the world’s first blockchain-enabled app that allows retail investors to invest in retail treasury bonds right from their mobile devices.

Nichel Gaba, founder and CEO of PDAX, explained that the latest investment round would fuel the company’s short- and long-term growth plans, as PDAX continues to expand, improve, and roll out more products and features to help digitize the financial services landscape in the country.

“We are in a golden age of cryptocurrency adoption and technology-driven transformation in the Philippines,” Gaba explained. “We are already making remittances into the country much cheaper by helping remittance companies utilize cryptocurrencies, and providing them with a deep and liquid market to convert crypto into Philippine pesos.”

PDAX plans to continue developing its cryptocurrency exchange into a world-class platform. PDAX also intends to add more features and support more digital assets towards the end of the year.