In Thailand, the law that came into force on July 16 concerning the license to operate with digital crypto assets is proving quite successful.
The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports that 50 Initial Coin Offering (ICO) projects and 20 crypto exchanges have expressed an interest in initiating procedures to obtain an operating license.
The general secretary of the Thai SEC, Rapee Sucharitakul, in conferring with Bangkok Post, admitted that he is not certain whether all 50 projects will be able to obtain a license to start their fundraising activities.
The challenge for ICOs is to produce a whitepaper capable of complying with the strict rules imposed by the authorities. The following characteristics shall apply to both Thai and foreign investors
- Investment details,
- Product description,
- Distribution of digital tokens,
- Use of funds collected at the end of the ICO.
ICO Portals are required
Before individual ICOs can be licensed, the law provides for the establishment of ICO Portals, fundraising platforms for authorised ICOs.
At present, five companies have expressed their interest, of which three have submitted formal applications to the SEC to become an ICO Portal.
Exchanges are also interested in starting their practice in Thailand
The Royal Decree issued in July not only concerns ICOs, it also offers attractive opportunities for cryptocurrency exchanges, 20 financial investment companies have applied for a license to operate as digital asset trading platforms.
Thai SEC secretary Mr Rapee told journalists that ‘approval of licences is under preparation’. And he added that crypto exchanges are interested in Thailand because the market is “quite active”.
The approval process for cryptocurrency exchanges and ICOs
The approval process is anything but straightforward.
The approval of the license takes up to five months, the request must be forwarded to the Thai SEC and then, within 90 days, passes for competence to the Ministry of Finance, which has 60 days to respond to the request of the company.
The practice established by the regulations starts from the assessment of the prerequisites required of the company and its members.
It is essential for companies interested in obtaining a licence to have an operating office in Thailand, to have paid up the declared share capital and to have a sound financial situation.
But not only the company but also directors, managers and shareholders, must go through a procedure of approval by the SEC.
Trust among local entrepreneurs
Despite the rigorous path imposed by the Asian authorities, JIBEX local exchange managing director Thuntee Sukchotrat was confident, seeing digital assets as the future investment everyone wants to make.
