The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved fintech firm Blockshoals Technologies Inc.’s application to test its financial products and services within the regulator’s sandbox environment, the SEC announced Tuesday.
Blockshoals, a Philippine fintech firm acting as a technology and infrastructure intermediary for virtual asset services, is the fourth entity to be admitted to the SEC StratBox. The company teamed up with a global cryptocurrency exchange to operationalize its StratBox proposal.
The SEC’s commission en banc granted the sandbox application, subject to the company’s completion of remaining requirements. The sandbox testing period is set to run for 24 months, with a possible shortening or extension after the first year following periodic reviews.
The SEC StratBox, established under SEC Memorandum Circular No. 9, Series of 2024, allows firms to test innovative products or services in a live but controlled setting before offering them to the public at large.
Under the framework, the SEC may grant regulatory relief by modifying or replacing certain licensing, registration, compliance or other requirements during the testing phase.
Blockshoals joins previously approved participants Macodimarc Technology Corp. (Pluang PH) and G-Xchange Inc. (GCash).
Two current participants are testing products related to US equities and one other is focused on tokenized real estate.
The SEC said it continues to review additional applications and remains open to new proposals as part of its commitment to supporting innovation in the capital markets.
