The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has signaled that the country is ready for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.

In an on-stage speech at Philippine Blockchain Week 2026, SEC Commissioner Rogelio Quevedo said the agency is “now fully confident that we have the right law in place [and] appropriate regulatory knowledge and experience” to accept asset tokenization. He said the technology could spur innovation in capital markets and “revolutionize” stock exchanges.

In a follow-up interview with Cointelegraph, Quevedo said tokenized investment products could provide overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with more legal investment options.

“Our OFWs have capital. They don’t know where to put their money. They don’t know how to make money from it,” he said, pointing to investment scams that targeted Filipinos looking for profits,” Quevedo said

“We are also using artificial intelligence to pursue these unscrupulous scams,” he added, emphasizing that the SEC is working with Google, TikTok and other online platforms to take down illegal investment offers.

The comments framed regulated tokenization as both an innovation in capital markets and a potential investor protection tool in the Philippines, where authorities have taken action against unregistered investment platforms.

Philippine SEC Commissioner Rogelio Quevedo (left) and Cointelegraph’s Ezra Reguerra (right) during Philippine Blockchain Week 2026. Photo: Cointelegraph

The Philippine SEC is testing tokenized assets in its regulatory sandbox

The position is consistent with the SEC’s strategic sandbox, StratBox, which allows fintech companies to test modern products and business models in a real-world but controlled environment under the supervision of regulators.

This framework allows the SEC, within its legal authority, to waive or amend certain legal and regulatory requirements for individual sandbox participants. However, participation does not automatically exempt a company from applicable laws, and the sandbox cannot be used to circumvent legal or regulatory requirements.

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In November 2025, the SEC he said Four companies were admitted to the sandbox, including one testing a tokenized real estate offer. Two participants tested access to U.S. stocks, while BlockShoals Technologies received approval in principle to test cryptocurrency-related products and services.

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