Buy bitcoin with PESONet in the Philippines
- Status
- Legal
- Currency
- Philippine peso (PHP)
- Takes PESONet
- 2 exchanges
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-23
2 of the exchanges we recommend in the Philippines take PESONet for funding bitcoin purchases. It is one of several rails in use here; the full picture is in the Philippines guide.
What is PESONet?
PESONet is the Philippines' batch electronic fund transfer scheme, launched in November 2017 under the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' National Retail Payment System and administered with Philippine Payments Management Inc. It moves pesos between accounts at BSP supervised banks and e-money issuers, and the BSP describes it as the electronic replacement for the paper cheque. It is the higher value counterpart to InstaPay, which is real time but capped at 50,000 pesos per transaction.
- Speed
- Payments clear in batches across three settlement cycles and credit the same banking day if sent before a cut-off, otherwise the next banking day.
- Cost
- Fees are set by each sending bank or e-money issuer rather than by the scheme, so they vary by institution and channel.
- Limits
- PESONet sets no scheme-wide minimum or maximum, so any per transaction or daily cap comes from the sending institution.
Exchanges that take PESONet in the Philippines
Ranked as in our Philippines guide. Every payment method shown is verified for this exact exchange and country pairing.
- 1Coins.ph4.3
The most widely used Philippine crypto wallet, BSP-licensed, with a pro trading tier from 0.10 percent that most of its users never find.
- Fees
- Coins Pro starts at 0.10 percent maker and 0.15 percent taker, the cheapest published rates in the Philippines. The main app prices through a spread instead.
- KYC
- Required
- Pay with
- GCash, InstaPay, PESONet, Over-the-counter cash at retail partners, Credit or debit card
- 2PDAX4.0
BSP-licensed Manila order book that also powers GCash's in-app crypto, priced well above its main local rival.
- Fees
- 0.40 percent maker and 0.50 percent taker, about four times Coins Pro. Bitcoin withdrawals cost 0.0004 BTC, above the typical exchange charge.
- KYC
- Required
- Pay with
- GCash, InstaPay, PESONet
See the full how-to-buy guide for the PhilippinesEverything about buying bitcoin with PESONet
Watch: how to choose an exchange
We have not filmed a walkthrough for the Philippines yet, so this is our general one, from our YouTube channel @dontgetrekt. It also sits on the home page, next to the country search it starts from.
Do you need a VPN?
A VPN hides which sites you visit from the network you are on and from your internet provider, which is worth having when you move money over a connection you do not control. It does not get you past an exchange's identity checks: every platform we list verifies who you are no matter where you connect from.
If you want one, the strongest records on our list belong to NordVPN (6 independent no-logs audits, the most of any service we review), Windscribe (its no-logs claim tested in the real world 3 times) and Proton VPN (the most audited service with a free tier).
Other ways to pay in the Philippines
Frequently asked questions
Which exchanges accept PESONet in the Philippines?
Of the 3 exchanges we recommend in the Philippines, Coins.ph and PDAX accept PESONet for funding purchases.
Is buying bitcoin with PESONet legal in the Philippines?
Bitcoin is legal in the Philippines under one of Asia's older regulatory frameworks: the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has licensed virtual asset service providers since 2017, and the SEC's Crypto-Asset Service Provider rules took effect on July 5, 2025. Enforcement against unregistered platforms is real: regulators had Binance blocked at the network level in 2024 and added ten more offshore exchanges, including Kraken, in August 2025. Buying on licensed platforms is fully lawful.
How long does a PESONet deposit take?
Payments clear in batches across three settlement cycles and credit the same banking day if sent before a cut-off, otherwise the next banking day. That is the rail itself; an exchange may hold a first deposit for longer while it verifies your account.
What does it cost to buy bitcoin with PESONet?
Fees are set by each sending bank or e-money issuer rather than by the scheme, so they vary by institution and channel. Any fee the exchange adds on top is separate, and is shown per exchange above.