Crypto Triumph: Thailand’s Second-Largest Bank Seizes Control Of Local Exchange

Thailand’s largest bank by revenue, Kasikornbank Pcl, has unveiled that it is planning to introduce a new FinTech platform by the end of the year as it attempts to prevent fee income from its rival banks. In a report from Bloomberg, Kattiya Indaravijaya, one of the four presidents at the Bangkok-based company, said that the goal was to produce faster, easier and lower-cost online banking transactions. There are also talks with overseas companies to create the digital payments platform. According to information from the Bank of Thailand, Thai mobile and Internet banking transactions....

In an apparent snub to Ripple, Thailand’s oldest bank, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) is set to open a new cross border remittances corridor in partnership with Lightnet, a fintech company that uses the Stellar blockchain. SCB says the partnership opens the door for more efficient cross border funds transfer from South Korea to Thailand. Before choosing Lightnet, SCB teamed up with Ripple’s partner Azimo in April to open a payment corridor between Thailand and Europe by using the Ripplenet. However, in announcing the new partnership, an executive with SCB lauds the new service....

The Bank of Thailand doesn’t want local banks or businesses using crypto, while the tourism ministry is still trying to attract crypto whales. The Bank of Thailand has stated that it does not want commercial banks to be directly involved in the trading of crypto assets.The edict came from central bank senior director Chayawadee Chai-Anant on Dec. 7 who cited risks associated with high price volatility."We don't want banks to be directly involved in digital asset trading because banks are (responsible) for customer deposits and the public and there is risk."The latest round of central bank....

SCB X notified the Stock Exchange of Thailand that the Bitkub acquisition is “still undergoing due diligence.” Thailand’s oldest bank is unable to acquire the country’s largest local cryptocurrency exchange due to stringent crypto regulations.As reported by Cointelegraph in November 2021, SCB X Group, a subsidiary of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), was set to acquire a 51% stake in Bitkub by the second quarter of 2022 as part of a plan to become a regional fintech. Now things seem to have taken a twist, as the bank has indefinitely postponed its plans to acquire the popular exchange.As crypto....

As Thailand’s leading crypto exchange remains suspended, billionaire backed rival Upbit enters the scene. Crypto exchange Upbit is entering the Thai market at a fortuitous time when the kingdom’s most popular exchange, Bitkub, remains suspended by government regulators.According to reports in local media, a joint-venture crypto exchange between Upbit APAC and a group of Thai billionaires launched operations on Wednesday, Jan. 20. It follows the regulatory suspension of the country’s most popular trading platform Bitkub on Monday, which had a reported 97% share of the market before its....