Filipinos can now trade US stocks using cryptocurrencies

MANILA  -Cera, a US capital equity trading platform headquartered in California, now enables Filipinos to bet on Wall Street stocks using cryptocurrency as payment.

In a statement, the Y Combinator-backed company said it had rolled out the stock trading platform where Filipino users can invest in US stocks using stablecoins like USD Coin, Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD).

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose values are tied to another currency, commodity or financial instrument.

“Cera is revolutionizing the entryway to the US stock market through a seamless deposit, purchase, and trade process. Our core values of stability, transparency and accessibility ensure that diverse global communities including Filipinos can confidently engage with the market,” Cera product lead Daniel Phan said.

Users can now trade stocks of industry giants like Tesla Inc., Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. via the platform.

“We aspire to empower anyone in the world with global investment opportunities, emphasizing ease and user fund security,” Phan added.

Cera, founded in 2022, is the first stock trading platform that takes deposits in the form of cryptocurrency. Y Combinator, a tech startup accelerator also based in the US, invested in the company that same year.

In the latest Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index, the Philippines was included in the top 10. “In the Philippines, where many want to speculate on new assets, make extra cash, and connect digitally with others, play-to-earn games were able to gain an enormous foothold,” the New York-based blockchain analysis firm said.

Blockchain Council of the Philippines president Donald Lim recently said the Philippines could be Asia’s blockchain capital by 2028 given the increasing adoption of nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

NFTs are unique digital assets that could be bought as investments and be traded later on via an exchange platform.

—Tyrone Jasper C. Piad INQ