GCash, the Philippines’ leading mobile wallet and financial services platform, has transformed the way Filipinos manage their finances. Known for its seamless integration of payments, bill settlements, money transfers, insurance, and lending services, GCash has become a cornerstone of daily financial transactions for millions.
Within this ecosystem, GCrypto is a feature within the GCash app, allowing users to easily explore and engage with cryptocurrencies.
Led by someone who has been in the crypto space since 2014, the platform focuses on fostering safe and informed crypto adoption. With a mission to educate and empower Filipinos, GCrypto is not just about trading digital assets but about building a sustainable understanding of cryptocurrency as a long-term financial tool.
That said, representatives of UseTheBitcoin got the opportunity to interview Luis Buenaventura, the Head of Cryptocurrencies at GCrypto, during the recent Philippine Blockchain Week 2025 in Manila.
UTB: You have been a key figure in the Philippine crypto space since 2014. What motivated you to join GCash as the Head of GCrypto, and how has this role allowed you to shape the future of crypto adoption in the Philippines?
Luis: So, GCash has 94 million users here in the Philippines, which is basically a hundred percent of the country. My dream has always been to figure out a way to make crypto as accessible to Filipinos as possible in the safest and most secure way, and I guess joining GCash to lead GCrypto just made a lot of sense, like they’ve already got every single Filipino as a user of GCash, so now the job becomes on how do we make them more familiar or more comfortable with crypto such that they can take advantage of the fact that GCrypto exists right inside their GCash wallet—they don’t even have to download and install anything anymore, all their ID and credentials are all there, so all they need to do is literally look for the GCrypto icon inside GCash and they could get started with crypto immediately.
UTB: How is the platform leveraging this massive user base to make crypto accessible to the average Filipino, and what challenges are you facing in this democratization effort?
Luis: Honestly, it’s so easy for us to just keep promoting crypto, because again, of those 94 million users, tens of millions of them log in GCash every single day because that’s where they pay their bills, send money to folks, they have insurances there, or borrow money through it—all we need to do really is send them a couple of push notifications to try out crypto.
But I don’t think that is enough. I think that you know you can’t just promote and market this stuff, you actually have to teach them how to use it. So, this year in 2025, one of the projects that you will see from GCrypto is that we are going to be releasing a comic book that explains how crypto works for the average Filipino. It’s going to be in Taglish(*). I wrote and illustrated it, and you will be able to get a free copy if you sign up to GCrypto.
A Beginner’s Guide To Crypto by Luis Buenaventura – Image from BitPinas
And if you go to one of our events in our headquarters, you will actually get both a digital copy of the comic book in your app and a physical copy if you visit us at one of our meetups or events. And I guess that’s kind of our way of really making this stuff a little bit more easier—it’s not enough to just give crypto to people, they actually have to understand what it is for and how to use it safely. So that’s what we’re trying to go for this year.
(*)Taglish is a form of language used in the Philippines where Tagalog and English words are mixed together, creating a unique blend of both languages.
UTB: Notably, you have advocated for Filipinos to view crypto as a long-term savings alternative rather than a get-rich-quick scheme. How is GCrypto educating users to adopt this mindset, and what cultural or economic barriers are you addressing?
Luis: Yeah, so to a certain extent, the comic books are kind of one of the key pieces in our strategy. You know, I guess I’m kind of old school with the way I approach education. I like books and teaching that way by making people read. In this case, it’s a comic book, so you don’t have to read the whole thing—there are many illustrations.
But more than that, we are also doing a lot of meetups. Every month, there’s at least one GCrypto meetup at the GCash office, which is always free; customers don’t have to pay for anything—they just wait for the invitation and they can go, ask questions directly to me or some of our guests. We usually have experts also kind of available there to answer all of your questions about crypto, maybe even guide you about where you should start, which I think is the most important first step for many beginners.
So yeah, we are constantly doing stuff like this, and that’s always going to be part of the strategy for us.
UTB: Looking beyond 2025, what is your vision for GCrypto in the next decade, and how do you see it contributing to the global crypto ecosystem from the Philippines?
Luis: Currently, there are only 3 million GCash customers who are using GCrypto, and remember how I said earlier that there are 94 million GCash customers. So, the main job is to figure out how to get that 3 million all the way up to 90 million plus, and that’s kind of the goal for us.
Every year, we are hoping to grow by a couple of million more, and hopefully, as Filipinos become more familiar and aware of this stuff, they will look for GCrypto because they know that it exists now, and I guess that’s it—you know it’s always going to be on how do we keep onboarding more and more Filipinos. But at the same time, we make sure they are doing it in a way that is not where they are dreaming of 100x wealth or whatever. It’s not really how that works in crypto; it is slower than that, especially if you want to do it safely. So, managing your risk levels, managing your expectations, those are all important parts of this experience, so I think for us, it’s just having more and more tools for Filipinos to learn this stuff a little more safely. I think that’s the overarching goal for us.
UTB: Is there anything you want to share that I have not asked, but is important to cover in this interview?
Luis: I guess what I always tell people is that if you are even a little bit interested or curious about crypto, you don’t need to download or install a new app, you don’t need to create a new account, you’ve already got crypto trading right inside your GCash wallet. It’s inside the GInvest folder; you click that icon, and you’re there.
So, you already got everything that you need to get started, and yeah, if you take that first step, then you can go on this journey with us, and we will help guide you and hold your hand while you are learning all of this stuff for the first time.
For further information on GCrypto and to stay updated on their announcements, please visit their official social media channels provided below:
👉 GCash’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/gcashofficial/
👉 GCash’s Twitter/X: https://x.com/gcashofficial
👉 GCash’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gcashofficial/
👉 Luis Buenaventura’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helloluis/
👉 Luis Buenaventura’s Twitter/X: https://x.com/helloluis
