HomeCryptoA large bank acquires a stake in a crypto exchange

A large bank acquires a stake in a crypto exchange

Today, a bank, among the largest in Thailand, officially announced that it has acquired a stake in a local exchange.ย 

The bank is Bangkok’s Kasikornbank, known as K-Bank, and it is a banking group established in 1945 and listed on the exchange since 1976. 

The crypto exchange, on the other hand, is the small local Satang exchange. 

The bank acquiring the crypto exchange

Kasikorn in Thailand is a behemoth, as it has the most branches, 1,132, and ranks fourth in the country in assets under management.

It has more than 19,000 employees, with branches abroad as well, such as in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and others. 

Even in the 1990s it had its own soccer team, later disbanded in 2000, which was the only Thai soccer team to win the Asian Champions Cup twice. 

Note that Thailand has a population of more than 70 million, so it is by no means considered a small state. 

The crypto exchange affected by the bank

On the Satang crypto exchange, however, not much is known. 

It is a local exchange with very low exchange volumes of less than $650,000 daily. 

Moreover, almost all exchange volumes are concentrated in the exchange pair between the local fiat currency, Thai Baht (THB), and Tether (USDT), with only $15,000 on the BTC/THB pair. 

However, it is the only regulated crypto exchange in Thailand that holds the international ISO 27001 standard. It is often used by Thais mainly to buy USDT in fiat currency and thus transfer them to Binance. 

Satang has been in existence since 2017, thus being the longest-running crypto exchange in the country, and after the acquisition it will be renamed to Orbix. 

The acquisition

The official document submitted by Kasikornbank to the Thai Stock Exchange reveals that the acquisition was made through its subsidiary Unita Capital, which acquired a 97 percent stake in Satang Corporation Company. 

Once the acquisition is completed, three other separate companies will also be created, so Orbix Trade Company will manage, the crypto exchange, Orbix Custodian will handle the custody of digital assets, Orbix Invest will manage funds in digital assets, and Orbix Technology & Innovation Company will handle blockchain infrastructure development.

Note that this acquisition came only a month after the same bank launched a $100 million venture tech fund focused on artificial intelligence, Web3 and deep tech startups.

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is an important region for the crypto world because it is where the largest crypto hub in all of Southeast Asia is located-Singapore. Together with Seoul (South Korea) and Tokyo (Japan), it is the third major crypto hub in all of East Asia, as Hong Kong in this respect has lost some ground in recent years. 

Moreover, Southeast Asia is a highly populated region, since, for example, more than 270 million people live in Indonesia, and another thirty million in Malaysia. To these can be added nearly one hundred million Vietnamese and over 110 million Filipinos. 

To be fair, this is not yet an area where cryptocurrencies have become very widespread, but the classic use for example for remittances from abroad is appealing to many.ย 

Since Singapore is at the very center of this area, it is possible that cryptocurrencies could have a strong development in the region. 

Banks and cryptocurrencies

It is possible that more and more traditional banks will integrate crypto services on their platforms. 

In particular, there are two services that could become more widespread. 

The first, as highlighted earlier, is international remittances, since international transactions in cryptocurrencies are easy, fast and cheap, unlike those in fiat currencies. 

The second, on the other hand, is related to savings, i.e., the inclusion of Bitcoin investments in portfolios. Generally, this second service is more attractive in wealthier countries, while the first in less wealthy ones.ย 

However, it cannot be ruled out that some banks end up opting for both services, as shown, for example, by the creation of a company specializing in crypto custody by the Thai bank. 

Moreover, it is precisely in countries where the banking system is less developed that cryptocurrencies find fertile ground, especially in the case of a weak and highly inflationary local currency. However, this is not the case in Thailand, which has very low inflation. 

If banks begin to enter crypto markets themselves, it is possible that the use of cryptocurrencies globally will surge.

Marco Cavicchioli
Marco Cavicchioli
"Classe 1975, Marco รจ stato il primo a fare divulgazione su YouTube in Italia riguardo Bitcoin. Ha fondato ilBitcoin.news ed il gruppo Facebook "Bitcoin Italia (aperto e senza scam)".
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