Bank of Thailand: Local banks should not participate in digital asset transactions! Does not support encrypted payment

Chayawadee Chai-Anant, senior director of the Central Bank of Thailand (BOT), said at a briefing on December 7: We do not want local commercial banks to directly participate in digital asset transactions, because banks are responsible for deposits to the public; at the same time, Chai- Anant also reiterated the central bank’s position that digital assets are not supported as payment methods for goods and services. She stated that digital assets may be harmful to merchants and consumers because they are related to high price fluctuations, online theft, personal data leakage, and money laundering risks.

"If digital assets are widely used as payment methods for goods and services, such risks may affect the stability of the payment system, financial stability, and consumers."

According to the Bangkok Post, digital assets are becoming more and more popular among individuals, companies and banks in Thailand. Sakkapop Panyanukul, senior director of BOT, also warned companies not to accept cryptocurrencies last week, believing that tokens that are not backed by assets are just blank coins. And said: If other currencies are widely used, it will affect the ability of the central bank to monitor the economy.

Thailand's tourism department vigorously promoted

Thailand’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism, but the tourism industry has been hit hard during the pandemic. Since September, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has been looking for opportunities to launch its own token, TAT, and plans to attract wealthy cryptocurrency investors to travel there.

Jirayut Srupsrisopa, CEO of the local cryptocurrency exchange Bitkub, delivered a speech at the Transformation of Tourism with Cryptocurrency Conference in late November, urging policymakers to approve the launch of the TAT token: the private sector is ready to provide digital infrastructure, we just Waiting for the government to press the button to help promote the digital asset market by enacting laws, regulations and even policies.

He even said: If we can strengthen this market, our country's GDP can increase six times.

According to the Bangkok Post, Yuthasak Supasorn, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, explained that the cryptocurrency movement will use digital technology to build a new tourism ecosystem, allowing wealthy people, including cryptocurrency holders, to transfer their funds Transfer directly to tour operators without the need for agents or brokers.

Thai banking giant acquires local exchange

According to previous reports, Thailand’s oldest bank, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), announced in early November that it had acquired a 51% stake in Thailand’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Bitkub, with a total value of 17.85 billion baht (approximately US$537 million). Bitkub executed Chang said at the time: Bitkub is no longer a start-up company, and is now an essential member of the key infrastructure of Thailand's financial industry 3.0.

Bitkub is a unicorn with a valuation of more than 1 billion U.S. dollars. According to Coindesk, from January to September this year, Bitkub's trading volume exceeded 30 billion U.S. dollars. It is the country's largest cryptocurrency exchange and accounts for the Thai cryptocurrency exchange market. 90% of the total.

In the context of low interest rates and the recent economic slowdown, Thailand, as the second largest economy in Southeast Asia, has gradually increased the demand for cryptocurrencies and other risky assets. Young investors have also transferred their assets to other high-remuneration tools to obtain more Good return.