Quevedo: Tokenized Assets Can Shield 110M Filipinos from Scams

Philippine SEC Commissioner Rogelio Quevedo wants tokenized assets to become a regulated alternative for the country's retail investors. He said the move would give Filipinos legitimate investment options and help cut off fraudulent schemes that have cost local investors millions.

Tokenized assets are digital representations of real-world holdings such as real estate, equities, or debt instruments. The key feature is fractional ownership. A retail investor can buy a slice of a property or a bond, represented by a blockchain token. That lowers the capital barrier that has historically locked many Filipinos out of formal investment products, Quevedo argued.

Investment fraud is a persistent problem in the Philippines. Unregistered schemes and Ponzi-style products have drained investor funds for years. The SEC has fought that battle through enforcement. Quevedo said building a regulated tokenization framework would do more for investor protection than chasing bad actors after the fact.

Blockchain records are public and immutable. Quevedo said that makes it harder for bad actors to doctor ownership records or misrepresent what investors hold. For a regulator that has spent years trying to claw back money from fraudulent schemes, that property is attractive.