UnionBank's UBX Launches Pesos-Based Stablecoin on Polygon in the Philippines

A Peso-denominated stablecoin built on Polygon PoS is being launched by UBX - the digital development arm of the Aboitiz Group and a subsidiary of Unionbank.

UBX leverages the Polygon blockchain to develop the stablecoin to minimise settlement time, and transaction fees, and eliminate the need for intermediaries.

The project aims to streamline remittances for Filipinos and businesses as well as Filipinos working overseas who wish to send money from abroad. $34.9 billion was sent back to the Philippines from overseas workers in 2020.

"We aim to provide a seamless and secure platform for peso-denominated transactions, thereby enhancing financial inclusion across the country," John Januszczak, President and CEO of UBX said.

William M. Valtos, Jr. Senior Managing Director of UBX, said the Peso-based stablecoin addresses "unique challenges faced by our country's banking sector."

UBX is the Phillipines' leading Open Finance Platform, enabling businesses, government and other communities by embedding financial services into digital experiences that truly matter to their customers.

Last month, introduced a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) without using blockchain.

Eli Remolona, the Governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), said the country's central bank plans to launch the CBDC in the next two years.

Remolona said the central bank will not use blockchain to power its CBDC as it believes other countries have failed.

“Other central banks have tried blockchain but it didn’t go well,” he explained. With “wholesale” CBDC, Remolona said, “banks will be the only counterparties, and then, retail will ride on them.”

Polygon Labs recently collaborated with Animoca Brands and the Human Institute to launch the Humanity Protocol on Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK), a modular, open source software toolkit for blockchain developers to launch new L2 chains on Ethereum.