Central bank conveys Thai banks offer not crypto trading

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The Bank of Thailand has clarified that commercial banks should not be directly involved in the trading of cryptocurrency assets.

On December 7, central bank senior director Chayawadee Chai Anant issued the directive, citing the risks associated with high price volatility.

“We don’t want banks to be directly involved in digital asset trading because banks are (responsible) for customer deposits and the public and there is risk.” According to a story in the Bangkok Post, the current round of central bank digital asset repression comes at a time when commercial banks are investing in local cryptocurrency exchanges.

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), Thailand’s oldest bank, said in early November that it will buy a 51 percent share in Bitkub, the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The country’s fifth-largest lender, Bank of Ayudhya, invested $1.3 billion in the Zipmex cryptocurrency exchange in late August.

Despite the growing popularity of digital assets among individuals, businesses, and institutions in Thailand, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) has taken a harsher stance against them.

“If foreign currencies are extensively utilized, it will harm the central bank’s ability to oversee the economy,” BoT senior director Sakkapop Panyanukul warned firms last week. He referred to tokens that were not backed by assets as “blank coins.”

Story by : Norvisi Mawunyegah