From Paris to Manila: The Push and Pull Shaping Crypto Today

1. Europe tightening up: France vs. crypto passporting

France (plus Italy and Austria) is pushing back against the idea that crypto companies, once licensed in any EU country under MiCA, should be able to operate across the EU freely. They worry about weak spots: firms licenced in less strict jurisdictions (e.g. Malta) might exploit loopholes. So, there’s talk of bringing much more oversight to the EU’s central regulator, ESMA.

Why this matters: as regulations tighten, firms may need to rework legal, compliance, or operational setups. Could raise costs or slow new entrants.

2. UK’s plan to cap stablecoin ownership hits backlash

The Bank of England is proposing caps on how much stablecoin a person or business can hold: roughly £10,000–£20,000 for individuals; £10 million for businesses.
Groups in the crypto/payments space are pushing back, warning this could damage innovation and make the UK less competitive globally.

3. Stablecoin market nearing $300B; dominance of USDT & USDC

Tether and Circle (USDT, USDC) continue to dominate. The market for stablecoins is approaching $300 billion in cap.
Newer stablecoins (like Ethena’s USDE) are growing, showing there’s demand for alternatives, especially depending on backing type, regional use, and regulatory clarity.

4. Push for “PayFi” and real-use-case tokens

There’s a noticeable trend: crypto projects that link payments + finance (PayFi) are getting more attention. Remittix is one example: presale raised ~$25-$26M, launching a wallet, listing on exchanges, enabling many fiat/crypto pairings.
Also, people are watching established coins like Cardano, Litecoin for whale accumulation, breakouts, maybe jumping into alt-season.

5. Philippines slipping in global adoption rankings but still strong in grassroots & retail

According to the 2025 Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index:

The Philippines is now 9th globally in overall grass-roots crypto adoption.
It used to rank higher (2nd place in 2022), so there’s a downward trend.
Strengths: strong retail activity, retail centralized service value is high. Weakness: comparatively lower DeFi adoption/value received.

In terms of regulation and tax:

The Philippines has introduced a 15% capital gains tax on crypto sales (when selling for fiat or buying goods).
Income from crypto (e.g. mining, staking, payment) is taxed under income tax rules. VAT (12%) applies to goods sold for crypto. Penalties for non-filing.
To operate, crypto asset service providers (CASPs) need to register with the SEC; there’s a minimum capital requirement of about ₱100 million and physical presence in PH.

6. Tension: September patterns vs new support structures

Historically, crypto has done worse in September (Bitcoin median: -3.1%, Ethereum worse). But this year, there are fresh factors that could change that:

ETF inflows, stronger stablecoin liquidity, more institutional interest.
Also big token unlocks happening mid-month: Sui, Aptos, Arbitrum, etc. That creates both risk (selling pressure) and potential opportunity.

What to Keep an Eye On (So You’re Not Caught Off Guard)

Regulatory changes in Europe & UK could ripple out to global exchanges or projects that serve those markets.
How stablecoin regulations evolve (backing, transparency, caps) could shift what options people prefer/are allowed to use.
For PH: how the tax regime is enforced, and whether the ₱100M capital requirement will weed out smaller players — that could change user experience (fees, liquidity, trust).
The token unlocks mid-September — watch for volatility there, especially with altcoins.
“PayFi” projects — those could be where real utility + user demand show up, rather than just speculative narratives.

My Take: What This Suggests

There’s a tug-of-war between regulation and innovation. As governments try to define boundaries (licensing, ownership caps, taxes), there’s also growing momentum toward projects that make crypto useful in daily life: payments, wallets, cross-border transfers.

For people following or investing, it’s less about chasing hype, more about picking what’s durable under regulation and useful in the real world.