PDAX

PDAX, short for Philippine Digital Asset Exchange, is a regulated cryptocurrency and digital assets platform built for the Philippine market. Licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) since September 2018, it operates genuine peso order books that let users buy and sell digital assets directly against the Philippine peso — rather than routing through a broker quote system — giving retail investors access to real market pricing.

The platform lists more than 50 cryptocurrencies priced in PHP, operates a mobile app available on iOS and Android, and has expanded its product set well beyond spot crypto trading to include tokenized government bonds, stablecoin payroll infrastructure, and gold tokenization. PDAX has grown to approximately four million users and has become a reference point for licensed crypto infrastructure in Southeast Asia.

How It Works

At its core, PDAX functions as an order-book exchange. Users deposit Philippine pesos via supported payment rails, then trade directly against counterparty orders at maker and taker rates. Spot trading fees are 0.40% for makers and 0.50% for takers, which sits above the global average but reflects the cost of maintaining local peso liquidity. Bitcoin withdrawal fees are 0.0004 BTC.

The mobile app handles the full user lifecycle: onboarding with KYC verification, fiat on/off ramps, crypto trading, bond investment, and portfolio tracking. Users can also access the web-based exchange for limit orders and deeper order book views.

Bonds on PDAX

PDAX Securities, formerly known as Bonds.ph, holds a broker/dealer license for fixed income securities, a Government Securities Eligible Dealer (GSED) license, and membership in the Philippine Dealing and Exchange (PDEX) — all granted in 2022. This regulatory stack allows PDAX to distribute Philippine government-backed Treasury Bills and Retail Treasury Bonds directly to retail investors, starting from a minimum of 500 PHP for T-Bills and 5,000 PHP for RTBs.

Bondholders can sell on the secondary market through the app. A recently launched Auto-Reinvest feature allows T-Bill payouts to automatically roll over into the next available T-Bill upon maturity, reducing friction for passive investors. Roughly half of all government bond account holders in the Philippines now hold tokenized bonds through this platform.

Supported Assets and Networks

PDAX supports more than 50 cryptocurrencies priced against PHP. On the stablecoin side, USDC is available across multiple networks: Ethereum, Stellar, Polygon, and Solana. The addition of Solana-native USDC gives users access to Circle's dollar-pegged stablecoin at Solana's median transaction cost of approximately 0.00064 USD, a meaningful reduction in transfer overhead for users moving funds on-chain.

Users transacting in USDC on Solana must ensure network selection matches the destination wallet — PDAX warns explicitly that sending to an incompatible network address risks permanent token loss.

Ecosystem Reach and Integrations

PDAX extends its trading engine to third-party platforms under licensing arrangements. It powers GCrypto, the crypto trading feature inside GCash — the Philippines' largest mobile wallet with tens of millions of active users. GCrypto lists more than 40 coins priced via PDAX's infrastructure, making PDAX's pricing engine one of the most widely distributed in the country even among users who never open the PDAX app directly.

In July 2025, GrabPay users gained the ability to fund their wallets using cryptocurrency through a PDAX partnership, extending that reach further into the ride-hailing and delivery ecosystem.

In November 2025, PDAX partnered with Toku to enable stablecoin payroll, allowing employers to compensate remote workers and contractors in stablecoins through the platform.

In October 2025, PDAX partnered with Codex Network — an Ethereum layer-two solution — to lower remittance costs for Filipinos using stablecoin infrastructure, targeting one of the country's largest financial pain points.

In August 2026, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) signed an MOU with PDAX to explore tokenized gold investment products through a banking app integration.

Team

PDAX was co-founded by Nichel Gaba, Krystian Kucharzyk, and Yang Yang Zhang. Nichel Gaba serves as CEO and holds a CFA charter. He graduated from Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in Management Engineering and earned an MBA in Finance and Real Estate from The Wharton School. Before founding PDAX he spent six years at HSBC in trust and management roles and completed an investment banking stint at Evercore. Benjamin Concepcion serves as Chief Operating Officer and Franz See as Chief Technology Officer.

Regulatory and Security Status

PDAX holds a BSP Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license and is registered with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). PDAX Securities holds its own set of capital markets licenses covering bond distribution and government securities dealing. The platform enforces KYC for all accounts, uses multiple security layers for account access, and runs regular audits per BSP requirements.

In February 2021 a technical incident caused trades to be reversed and approximately 2,800 accounts to be temporarily locked. The issue was handled publicly under BSP supervision. No comparable incident has been reported since.

Solana Ecosystem Fit

PDAX is primarily a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp and regulated exchange, not a DeFi or on-chain native protocol. Its Solana relevance comes from its support of Solana-native USDC, which positions it as a regulated entry and exit point for users moving funds between Philippine pesos and the Solana ecosystem. For Filipinos looking to access Solana DeFi or hold USDC on Solana, PDAX offers a BSP-licensed, peso-denominated pathway with local-language support and peso order books.

Given the Philippines' large overseas worker population and high remittance volumes, PDAX's stablecoin infrastructure and Solana USDC support make it a practically significant bridge between traditional Philippine finance and on-chain capital markets.