Overview

• House Bill 421 would require the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to buy 2,000 BTC each year for five years, creating a 10,000 BTC reserve through scheduled market purchases.
• The holdings would be kept in geographically dispersed cold storage with quarterly public proof-of-reserves reports that include wallet addresses and independent verification.
• During the lockup, sales would be permitted only to retire government debt, and after the period, disposals would be limited to 10% of the reserve within any two-year window.
• The proposal affirms that private Bitcoin ownership will not be infringed and that citizens’ crypto assets will not be subject to confiscation.
• If enacted, the Philippines would be the first Southeast Asian country to legislate such a reserve and its target size would exceed El Salvador’s reported stash, as supporters cite a hedge against peso risks and debt while experts flag volatility, cybersecurity and fiscal tradeoffs.