GCash to add crypto trading soon

The staff of GCash has been considering adding trade on cryptocurrency recently.

Mobile wallet app making company GCash has been planning to add trading cryptocurrencies to its platform pending finalization of a deal, according to a recent report by Rappler.

Asked by reporters on Monday on August 9 when GCash would be adding cryptocurrency to its fintech roster, its chief executive officer Martha Sazon told them without disclosing its partnering prospect, “As soon as we identify and finish our dealings with the entity that we will partner with… We’re looking at it seriously. There’s really a plan to host an entity within our platform to aid in the trading of cryptocurrency… Watch out for it soon”.

Operated by Globe Fintech Innovations (now Mynt), the fintech arm of Globe, GCash has about 46 million users with daily transactions worth PHP 10 million in July, aiming to have a gross transaction value worth over PHP 2 billion when 2021 ends and ending the second quarter with a positive bottom line.

Ernest Cu, president and chief executive officer of Globe Telecom, said that no timeline exists yet on talks of a public offering, adding, “We’re not going to IPO (initial public offering) for IPO’s sake. With regards to fundraising, we can fundraise today with no issues. So we don’t need to go public to raise money right now”.

Cu said that there was “a lot of clamor” to have GCash be publicly listed, but “it will come in time”, adding, “We don’t know whether it’s in the Philippines or not.… Enlisting in the US or dual listing with the Philippines or US, we don’t know, or any other Asian stock market for that matter”.

GCash has been consolidating financial services into one app, having so far introduced new products on its platform like GInvest that lets users invest in local and global funds and GInsure (its product of insurance for medical emergencies).