Philippines SEC Declares Preparedness to Embrace Real-World Asset Tokenization
In a conversation with Cointelegraph, Commissioner Rogelio Quevedo of the Philippine SEC explained how asset tokenization could provide Filipino investors with legitimate opportunities and protect them from fraudulent schemes.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines has indicated the nation's preparedness to embrace real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, according to Commissioner Rogelio Quevedo, who expressed confidence that the required regulatory and legal frameworks are already established.
During his presentation at the Philippine Blockchain Week 2026, Quevedo stated that the SEC has reached a point where it is "now fully convinced that we have the proper law [and] the proper regulatory mind and background" to facilitate the tokenization of assets. According to him, this technology has the potential to drive innovation within capital markets and bring about a "revolution" to stock exchanges.
During his conversation with Cointelegraph, Quevedo explained that tokenized investment vehicles could offer overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) access to more credible investment opportunities. "Our OFWs, they have the capital. They do not know where to place their money. They do not know how to make their money earn," he stated, highlighting the prevalence of investment scams that have exploited Filipinos in search of returns.
In his discussion with Cointelegraph, Quevedo also emphasized that the regulator's improved enforcement mechanisms have positioned it to better monitor emerging technologies. "We are also using artificial intelligence to go after these unscrupulous scams," he shared with Cointelegraph, noting that the SEC has established partnerships with Google, TikTok and additional online platforms to eliminate unauthorized investment offerings.
These statements position regulated tokenization as simultaneously serving as an innovation for capital markets and a mechanism for protecting investors in the Philippines, where the SEC has maintained its efforts to combat unregistered investment operations.
SEC of the Philippines evaluates tokenized assets through regulatory sandbox
The comments from Quevedo expand upon the SEC's Strategic Sandbox initiative, known as StratBox, which provides fintech firms with the opportunity to evaluate innovative products and business approaches in a real-world yet supervised setting under regulatory oversight.
This framework enables the SEC, operating within its jurisdictional authority, to adjust or waive specific legal and regulatory obligations for individual participants in the sandbox program. Nevertheless, being accepted into the program does not provide automatic immunity from current laws, and the sandbox mechanism cannot serve as a means to avoid legal or regulatory compliance.
In November 2025, the SEC announced that four organizations had gained admission into the sandbox program, with one conducting tests on a tokenized real estate investment product. Two of the participants were evaluating access mechanisms to United States equities, whereas BlockShoals Technologies obtained preliminary approval to evaluate crypto-related products and services.