Huobi becomes 5th licensed cryptocurrency exchange in Thailand upon receiving digital asset trading license

Thailand’s Ministry of Finance has officially granted Huobi a digital asset trading license, which makes Huobi the fifth licensed digital asset exchange in Thailand. The license permits Huobi to start local fiat and token trading services.

“Huobi Thailand is built on Huobi Cloud, which provides a one-stop solution for global digital asset exchanges. Huobi Thailand will provide Thai users with secure and reliable digital asset trading services through Huobi Cloud’s verified technical capabilities. In the field of digital asset trading, Huobi is one of the largest exchanges in the world by trading volume and has accumulated six years of experience in safe operation. After entering Thailand, Huobi will also actively cooperate with the government and local enterprises to explore the application scenarios of blockchain,” said by Sakda, head of Huobi for Thailand.

Consisting of numerous upstream and downstream enterprises, Huobi Group is a leading global blockchain company. Established in 2013, Huobi Group’s accumulative turnover exceeds US$1 trillion. It provides safe, secure, and convenient cryptocurrency trading and asset management services to millions of users in 130+ countries.

In the last two years, Thailand has improved legislation on digital assets to provide a safe investment environment for investors. In May 2018, SEC, Thailand’s digital assets regulator, announced that all companies in Thailand involved in digital asset business would only operate after receiving the license. The regulators also required existing companies with related businesses to submit applications for licenses within 90 days.

In January 2019, Bitcoin Exchange, Bitkub Online, Satang Corporation, and a digital asset broker successfully received the licenses, while the applications of three other companies were denied.

According to Huobi, when reviewing license applicants, the regulators focus on whether the applicant has a sound management system, the background of board and management team members, whether there is a monitoring system to detect conflicts of interest, and whether there is a routine cybersecurity check, etc.

Besides regulated exchanges, Thailand’s government is also actively exploring other blockchain applications.

In August 2018, the Bank of Thailand announced the development of Intanon, its official virtual currency. Intanon would be based on the distributed ledger technology developed by R3 and CORDA platform, which aimed to use blockchain technology to improve the efficiency of interbank payments. Eight commercial banks in Thailand, including Standard Chartered Bank of Thailand and HSBC, announced support for the project.