Philippines Stock Exchange plans measures to attract retail investors from crypto and gambling

The Philippine Stock Exchange is essentially admitting it’s losing the fight for retail investors. And its response is to overhaul nearly everything about how regular people can buy stocks.

PSE President and CEO Ramon Monzon announced that the exchange plans to launch a new trading engine, introduce new exchange-traded funds, ease margin trading rules, speed up brokerage accreditation, and roll out derivatives products. The target audience: the millions of Filipino retail investors who have drifted toward crypto trading and online gambling instead of equities.

The numbers tell the story

Crypto platforms in the Philippines reportedly engage over five times as many retail participants as the stock market. Trading volumes in crypto are also reportedly nearly five times that of the PSE.

The new trading engine will lower the minimum shares required per transaction, a clear pivot toward accommodating smaller investors who don’t have large sums to deploy.

Current rules require 150% collateral for margin trades. Whether the PSE ultimately relaxes that threshold remains to be seen, but the fact that it’s on the table signals how seriously the exchange is taking the competitive threat.

Monzon has pointed to Vietnam as a model worth studying. Vietnam’s stock trading volume is approximately 80% retail-driven.

The Binance factor

Making the PSE’s position even more complicated: the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved a regulatory sandbox for BlockShoals Technologies Inc., a local partner of Binance. This is notable because Philippine regulators had spent years taking a hard line against Binance’s operations in the country.

Monzon has expressed frustration at the SEC’s timing. After years of stringent regulations that kept Binance at arm’s length, the sudden pivot toward accommodating the world’s largest crypto exchange through a local partner sends a mixed signal.

The PSE’s reform package is one of the most explicit acknowledgments from a traditional exchange that it views crypto not just as a parallel market, but as a direct competitor for the same pool of retail capital.

The real risk for the PSE is execution speed. These reforms are set to begin rolling out in July 2026.

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