30s Summary

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has urged the government to understand and experiment with cryptocurrencies to keep up with global trends. He remarked on the potential for trade tariffs and national debt payment in Bitcoin to drive digital economy. Thailand’s SEC in August 2024 established a sandbox for companies to explore digital assets. The political party Pheu Thai sent digital cash to 45 million people, and Kasikornbank became the first in the country to officially hold customers’ cryptocurrencies. Thailand’s Bank has also trialed cross-border transactions using digital currency with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

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Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra recently made a speech telling Thailand’s government to learn about cryptocurrencies and get more into experimenting with them to keep up with the rest of the world.

The ex-Prime Minister didn’t say that Thailand should start buying cryptocurrencies. Instead, he thinks Thailand needs to learn about them because everything is going digital these days. In his words, “There are already many cryptocurrencies. Some people say that in the future, we will have more currencies than countries. Today, Thai people must think and understand this.”

He also mentioned that with things like possible trade tariffs from the Trump administration and talks of paying off national debt with Bitcoin, it’s even more important to get to grips with the digital economy.

In August 2024, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) set up a “sandbox” for certain service providers to test out digital assets. This sandbox lets businesses play around with new financial technologies without worrying about getting into legal trouble.

The Pheu Thai political party made good on their promise to send digital cash to 45 million people in Thailand in July 2024 to boost the economy. Those who got the cash received 10,000 baht, which is roughly $280.

In September 2024, Kasikornbank, the second biggest bank in Thailand, became the first in the country to legally hold cryptocurrencies for customers. This was mainly for digital asset businesses.

The SEC in Thailand also suggested in October 9 that mutual and private funds should be allowed to invest in crypto. This suggests Thailand is moving towards cryptocurrency being adopted by large institutions.

Also in October 2024, Thailand’s Bank partnered up with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to trial cross-border transactions using digital currency.