. why cigarettes, not milk or fruits? the answer is, it is hard to hold so many fruits in your pocket. also, fruits and milk are not standardized. what happened was that cigarettes emerged as the currency of choice in the camps. but then, many problems came out later. a smoker knows a bad cigarette from a good one. so, he will keep the good cigarettes and trade the bad ones. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches so, we expect that all these problems will happen as well to virtual currency. there are many competing ones, and even the ones that survive will have problems because of all these issues. the limits of decentralization : when should regulation step in? if the goal is to use them as stablecoins, clearly, that is banking. because then, you are taking money - taking deposits and guaranteeing deposits to support the currency. therefore, you should be treated like a bank and regulated like one. if you are issuing a stablecoin, maybe the requirement should be at least 50 percent of the assets that back it up should be very liquid assets. maybe you should have a reserve requirement. maybe you should have a liquidity coverage ratio, and so on and so forth. therefore, this avoids the very purpose of why these currencies were created to begin with. for them to be useful and safe, they have to be regulated. i think that this is the story of ftx [ failed cryptocurrency exchange ]. encouraging responsible and cautious innovation nonetheless, we should be open to new developments, especially [ in ] a country [ like ours ] that is dependent on remittances. therefore, we have to have an open mind. at the same time, as [ mbm ] eli [ remolona ] said, regulation should be a cautious one. we do not want to regulate without asking what the private players think and the role that they envision for virtual currencies. are they for remittances? are they for speculation? we are clearly, more likely to give [ virtual asset service provider ( vasp ) ] licenses to banks that already exist if, at all, there will be trading ; if they will be allowed to trade in these virtual currencies. by the way, if virtual currencies were to replace gold - if you believe google - the overall supply of gold is us $ 7. 5 trillion globally. if this can displace just

liberalization of rice imports, which helps ensure price stability of the filipino staple ; tax reforms which will help ensure fiscal sustainability ; amendments to the corporation code, which make it easier to set up corporations ; amendments to the bsp charter, which make bsp more effective in fulfilling its price and financial stability mandates ; the national id system, which will provide official identity cards for all filipinos and resident aliens, thereby facilitating transactions with government offices and easier access to banking and other formal services ; the innovative startup act, which mandates government support for startups ; the personal properties securities act ; which allows assets other than real properties to serve as collateral for loans ; and the islamic banking law, among others. more reforms are in the pipeline. on the part of the bsp, we are pushing for amendments to the bank secrecy act, the financial consumer protection bill, and the agri - agra law, among others. the executive department is pushing for other structural reforms, such as, the opening up of more sectors to foreign investments, forging of free - trade agreements with more countries, and more tax reforms, among others. amid the policy reform momentum, the philippines is expected to graduate into an upper middleincome economy this year. indeed, the country is expected to move closer toward the 2040 goal of becoming a high - income economy with zero poverty incidence. the role of the bsp allow me to now focus on the bsp ’ s contributions to the economy ’ s performance and prospects. over the years, the bsp had effectively fulfilled its price and financial stability mandates. with prices relatively stable and the financial system robust, the economy continued to grow despite rough external and domestic headwinds. moving on, with me at the helm, we intend to bring bsp closer to the filipino people. in particular, we will more communicate more vigorously what the fulfillment of our mandates mean for the ordinary man on the street. when commodity prices rise sharply, the poor suffers the most, given their limited or zero capacity to augment their incomes. conversely, the poor benefits the most when prices are stable. also, when the financial system is properly functioning, it is able to fund productive activities, including those that create jobs for unskilled and semi - skilled workers. as such, financial stability also benefits the marginalized to a great extent. this is something we want the broader public to understand and appreciate. also, we are focused on enhancing the efficiency of the country ’ s payments and settlements