The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) clarified that the 90-day integration period for BlockShoals Technologies Inc. inside its regulatory sandbox is strictly limited to technical infrastructure development and does not signal a public reopening or trading launch.
In a statement, the commission emphasized that any operational connectivity during this period is restricted to sandbox testing. Public onboarding and trading operations will remain subject to further regulatory approvals.
Focus on Fiat Rails
The 90-day phase mandates BlockShoals to integrate its technical systems with a domestic Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
- According to the SEC, this integration focuses on establishing secure fiat rails to allow the conversion of Philippine pesos to cryptocurrency and vice versa.
- The SEC stated that this technical integration phase should not be construed as the commencement of broader market operations or public trading.
BSP Confirms Lack of VASP Licenses
Prior to the SEC announcements, the BSP confirmed that neither Binance nor BlockShoals currently holds a Certificate of Authority to operate as a VASP in the Philippines.
The central bank stated that participation in the SEC’s “StratBox” sandbox does not exempt an entity from requiring separate central bank licensing to facilitate transaction rails.
The BSP noted that it independently administers its own regulatory sandbox framework and is currently coordinating with the SEC regarding the BlockShoals and Binance arrangement. It cited BSP Circular No. 1153, series of 2022, and SEC Memorandum Circular No. 9, series of 2024, as the governing guidelines.
Global Partner Designation and Timeline
The latest clarifications follow a revised SEC directive changing the operational designation of Binance from a global VASP to a global crypto-asset service provider (CASP) partner.
Under the approved sandbox terms, BlockShoals will serve as the locally registered intermediary while Binance provides the backend technology infrastructure and compliance systems.
The live operational testing phase inside the StratBox framework is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2026 and will run for a minimum of two years.
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This article is published on BitPinas: SEC: Blockshoals-Binance Sandbox Is Not a Public Relaunch in the Philippines
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