Coins.ph
Coins.ph is a financial services platform founded in 2014 by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Ron Hose and Runar Petursson in Metro Manila, Philippines. Coins.ph accept Bitcoin payments online, from anyone, anywhere- including who don’t have access to credit cards or bank accounts. Webiste enable all Filipinos (including 95 million unbanked individuals) to easily and safely buy and sell Bitcoin. It takes as a mission to improve lives of millions through Bitcoin technology.
As a service running on blockchain technology, Coins.ph uses digital currency as a low cost gateway to banking, extending the reach of financial institutions beyond their existing branch infrastructure to the 300+ million who are unbanked in the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia. In May 2017, Coins.ph raised $5 million in series A extension led by Naspers Ventures.[1]
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Coins.ph Review
Philippine startup Coins.ph offers its customers transfer cash without using a Bank. The new service of this e-wallet, called “Cashier” (Teller), turns the owner of the smartphone into an ATM, allowing you to put cash on the account of the wallet. Bitcoin is used as a currency within the service.
Of course, the novelty of this method makes you wonder — how safe it is, because in fact the client gives his money to a stranger. However, Coins.ph says that initially the functionality of the “cashiers” were tested in combination with a number of trusted partners — exchange offices and retail outlets already familiar with cash. These partners are checked to be “cashiers” and training. In the future, this platform technology will be available in any store where the Coins team.ph will check and train personnel. A sufficient level of security also allows you to maintain a two-way rating system, which allows the “cashier” and the client to evaluate each other after the transaction.
The Philippines one of the largest recipient for remittances in Asia and it was estimated that, in 2010, migrants sent around $21.3bn back to the country.
A large portion of these funds are going to people who do not have bank accounts and thus have to collect money in person at retail locations like Western Union, consequently paying an average of 9% in fees. “The reason they pay this 9%,” explained Hose, “is because they don’t have a bank account and likely will never have a bank account because they do not have enough savings. Banks have a cost structure (location, tellers, rent) and if you do not have sufficient savings on the first day when you open an account, the bank is already losing money.” Hose believes that bitcoin’s ability to harness the power of mobile devices, however, will set it apart.
Team
Ron Hose
Prior to coins.ph, Ron was a founding partner at Innovation Endeavors, an early stage venture capital fund backed by Eric Schmidt. Ron was also the co-founder of TokBox (acquired by Telefonica), a consumer video conferencing company. TokBox was backed by Sequoia Capital, Bain Capital, Stanford University and some of Silicon Valleys best-known angel investors. Ron holds a Bachelors and Masters degree from Cornell University, where he graduated at the top of his class. Ron is also an active investor and adviser to several Silicon Valley startups[2].
Runar Petursson
Runar has been building scalable production web applications for over 15 years. He has also built High Frequency Trading platforms, with extensive experience in high volume, low latency systems. He started trading Bitcoin in 2011 and looks forward to the day he can quit carrying cash around.
Coin.ph Trading
Buy Bitcoin
Philippine Pesos (PHP)
The website offers different ways to pay the money in exchange of your received Bitcoins:
Cash deposit
Log in to your Coins.ph account and then tap Cash In.
- BPI – Cash deposit in any BPI office (Bank of the Philippines Islands)
- BDO – Cash deposit in any BDO office (Banco De Oro)
- BPI Express Online – Transfer funds Online
Mobile money
- Gcash – Cash transfer using mobile phone with a Globe number
Sell Bitcoin
Philippine Pesos (PHP)
Coins.ph offers differents ways to send the money:
Bank
- BPI (No fee)
- BPI Family (No fee)
- BDO (No fee)
- China Bank (No fee)
- CITI Bank (No fee)
- EastWest (No fee)
- MayBank (No fee)
- MetroBank (PHP 50)
- Planters Bank (No fee)
- PNB (No fee)
- RCBC (No fee)
- Standard Chartered (No fee)
- Union Bank (No fee)
Cash pickup
- Cebuana Lhuillier Pera Padala (PHP 30)
- LBC Peso Padala (PHP 30)[3]
Mobile money
- Globe GCash (PHP 10)
Coins.ph Fees and Rates
The rates are based on the current BTC/USD market rate.
SEA Market Snapshot
- Population: 610 Million
- GDP: 2.1 Trilion (equivalent to Russia)
- Credit Card Penetration: under 5%
Low credit card penetration is cited as the number one obstacle to e-commerce growth is Asia. The majority of sales are completed COD (cash-on-delivery) or with OTC (over the counter) payments, both of which have high customer drop-off rates.
Coins.ph – News
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