The Union Bank of the Philippines announced on November 2 that it had begun a trial program for custody and trading services for Bitcoin BTC $20,290 and Ether ETH $1,547 for a select group of retail customers. The program is intended to test the viability of providing these services to retail clients.

As part of the launch of the new investment and trading function, Union Bank went online on Harmonize, a digital asset platform established by Metaco, a Swiss firm that specializes in crypto technology. Harmonize was brought online. The first joint venture between Union Bank and Metaco was established in January 2022 for the purpose of the development of cryptocurrency trading services.

Recently, Union Bank, which is regulated and governed by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippine government, has started looking into the cryptocurrency industry. In addition, Union Bank launched in 2019 a payment-focused stablecoin that is pegged to the Philippine peso. This stablecoin was designed to be used in transactions.

According to Henry Aguda, Union Bank's chief technology officer and transformation officer, the use of Metaco has proven to be indispensable in the organization's efforts to fulfill its mission of providing "customer-centric" services in the Philippines. In addition, he stated that Union Bank is one of the first regulated cryptocurrency adopters in the nation, and he said the following:

"We are happy to continue Union Bank's series of industry firsts, and this time we are the first licensed bank in the country to provide digital currency conversion facilities for our customers," said a representative from the bank.

The Commendations of the President
The statement comes after the former president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, emphasized the significance of adopting blockchain technology to master digital banking and digital commerce.

In a formal presidential speech that was published in September 2022, Marcos discussed a number of important junctures for the Union Bank, including the following:

It is inarguable that Union Bank has established a track record of success in the banking industry by generating opportunities via the application of innovation and digital technologies.

Closing Remarks
The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BSP) has, in the past, issued a warning to the general public advising them not to use trading platforms for foreign cryptocurrencies. This was done to bring attention to the difficulty of enforcing consumer protection when dealing with service providers of foreign virtual assets. Will they be able to make amends for the deficiencies that have been brought to their recent projects' attention?