Thaksin Shinawatra clarified that he is not suggesting that Thailand start buying cryptocurrencies, but only calls for more careful study of their capabilities, given the current international trend towards digitalization. He added that the possibility of trade tariffs by the new US administration and President-elect Donald Trump’s idea to pay off the national debt with Bitcoin are important reasons for a more detailed study of crypto assets.
“There are a huge variety of cryptocurrencies. Some say that in the future there will be more currencies than countries themselves. Today, the Thai authorities must understand this and keep up with the times,” Shinawatra said.
In August, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC) announced the creation of a regulatory sandbox for select crypto service providers to experiment with digital assets. In a “relaxed” regulatory environment, these companies can develop financial technologies, blockchain and cryptocurrencies without fear of legal harassment from regulatory authorities.
Financial regulators in Thailand are ready to issue licenses for working with crypto assets subject to compliance with regulatory requirements. In September, Thai bank Kasikornbank became the first licensed institution in the country to receive permission to hold crypto assets.
In October, Thailand’s SEC began exploring the possibility of allowing mutual funds and private funds to invest in cryptocurrencies. Nirun Fuwattananukul, CEO of the Thai division of the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, believes this could speed up the adoption of cryptocurrencies among institutional investors.
In October, the Central Bank of Thailand partnered with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to test tokenized cross-border settlements under Project Ensemble. Earlier, the Central Bank of Thailand announced the successful completion of a pilot program to test the digital Thai baht.
Source: Bits
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