Alibaba subsidiary Ant Financial has trialled its first blockchain remittances, sending a transaction in three seconds, Bloomberg reports June 25. The company, formerly known as AliPay, completed a funds transfer between its AliPayHK app in Hong Kong and Filipino payment app GCash, its joint project with local telecoms company Globe Telecom. Part of a growing trend of Blockchain remittances in the Philippines, Ant Financial will establish international outreach in future, CEO Jack Ma told the press on the back of the project. “Using blockchain to achieve cross-border remittances is one of my most concerned projects in the past six months. …

The Philippines’ RIZAL COMMERCIAL Banking Corp (RCBC) announced plans to launch blockchain remittances to Japan June 20 in a partnership with two Japanese banks. Quoted by local news media outlet Business World, First Senior Vice-President Manny T. Narciso said the scheme, which will form part of IBM’s global blockchain pilot, aims to serve Filipinos who work in Japan and send money home. “We want to serve the [overseas foreign workers] in Japan through this technology and we’re doing it in partnership with two Japanese banks,” he said. “For the OFWs in Japan, [this service] will make remittance faster and cheaper …

The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an advisory on Cryptocurrency Cloud Mining Contracts that applies the Howey Test to classify these contracts as securities, the SEC outlined April 10. Cloud Mining contracts fall within the purview of securities law because they are “investment contracts,” whereby investors stake the mining capacity of a remote datacenter through the contract, which can itself then further be traded. Applying the 71-year old Howey Test, this qualifies as an investment in a “common enterprise,” in which investors are led to “expect profits” that are “generated from the efforts of others.” The Philippines’ SEC …