BitMEX Ventures Invests in a Philippines-Based Cryptocurrency Exchange

[Mercury]

BitMEX Ventures, the investment arm of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, which is owned and operated by Seychelles-based HDR Global Trading Limited, has invested in a cryptocurrency exchange called PDAX that is based in the Philippines.

The Republic of the Philippines (or "The Philippines" for short) is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia with a population of around one hundred million. PDAX, which stands for Philippine Digital Asset Exchange, was founded in 2018 by people with experience from "MIT, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and the United Nations SDG Initiative." According to PDAX, it is a full regulated centralized crypto exchange that has been approved by the central bank of the county, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). PDAX says that over half of the people in the Philippines do not have bank accounts and even the ones who do "have limited access to investments."

PDAX is currently operating in beta mode, and there is a waitlist for people who gain access to this trading platform. Here is what the interface looks like:

Earlier today, PDAX announced on its Medium blog that it has partnered with BitMEX Ventures. This investment (the amount has not been disclosed) from BitMEX Ventures should help PDAX with the official launch of its platform. Furthermore, it says that it hopes to "create a digital financial market, not just for cryptocurrencies but all kinds of digital investment products and securities." Examples are commodities, real estate equities, and debt securities in token form.

According to a report in BlockTribune, Nichel Gaba, co-founder and CEO of PDAX, had this to say:

“Through digital assets and blockchain, we want to even the playing field to give every Filipino from all walks of life the ability to grow their hard-earned wealth. With the support of BitMEX and by leveraging blockchain technology, we hope to create a digital financial market that is accessible to everyone.”

As for Arthur Hayes, Co-Founder and CEO at BitMEX, BlockTribune's report quotes him as saying:

“We see a substantial amount of trading volume from users in the Philippines and want to further empower traders with an affordable and seamless bitcoin transfer platform without the previous charges that made financial transactions so cumbersome. We are confident in the transformative potential of cryptocurrency and PDAX’s ability to widen access to the Philippines market and provide the tools to learn more about financial markets."

Over on Twitter, he sent out a tweet to welcome PDAX to "the BitMEX sphere of influence."

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