Philippines' UnionBank launches new PHP-pegged stablecoin 'PHX'

UnionBank of the Philippines has rolled out its own cryptocurrency dubbed PHX to connect rural banks through its blockchain platform, according to The Philippine Star.

Pegged to the Philippine peso (PHP), PHX is already implemented on the bank’s i2i blockchain platform.

“PHX is a stable store of value, medium of exchange and is a programmable token with self-executing logic. It enables transparent and automatic execution of payments,” Arvie de Vera, UnionBank Senior Vice President and Head of the Fintech Business Group, said.

As per the report, three rural banks have successfully conducted live transactions, including purchasing, buying, transferring, and redeeming transactions and domestic remittances, via the bank’s blockchain technology. The participating financial institutions are Summit Rural Bank in Luzon, the Progressive Bank in the Visayas, and the Cantilan Bank in Mindanao.

The report also revealed that in the initial stage, participants of the i2i blockchain platform can buy PHX by making direct debits from their accounts in UnionBank. The processes of converting PHX to PHP and withdrawing the funds in fiat to bank accounts would be easy for i2i users.

In addition, de Vera noted that the new platform ensures the governance and past reconciliation challenges are no longer issues and that compliance and audit are now made simpler. Also, because of the interoperable design of PHX, it can be used across different wallets and platforms on a global level.

Project i2i, which means island-to-island, institution-to-institution, and individual-to-individual, is a clearing system of UnionBank that connects rural banks through blockchain. By far, five rural banks have piloted the i2i.

The news also revealed that the Aboitiz-led bank also made history, becoming the country’s first financial institution to successfully conduct a pilot blockchain-based remittance from Singapore to the Philippines via its partnership with OCBC Bank.

Meanwhile, Ping An’s Insurance financial technology unit OneConnect also recently partnered with UBX< the fintech subsidiary of UnionBank, to use blockchain to offer financial services to micro, small, and medium enterprises.