The Thai Securities and Exchanges Commission has granted a license to Zipmex cryptocurrency exchange to offer its services in the Asian nation. Zipmex has previously been operating in Singapore, Australia and Indonesia. It now joins a handful of other exchanges licensed to operate in Thailand, including Bitkub Online and Coins TH.
The Singaporean exchange applied for the license a year ago, it revealed in a statement to crypto news outlet The Block. The Thai SEC is quite strict with crypto exchanges and Zipmex had to go through a rigorous approval exercise before finally getting the nod. It had to meet several stringent conditions including proving its shareholder equity was at least 50 million baht ($1.6 million).
The process, though rigorous, was well worth it, Zipmex co-founder Akalarp Yimwilai told the outlet. He stated, “Being licensed and regulated by the SEC was always our main priority as we believe that being a regulated entity will help provide trust to newcomers looking to enter the digital assets market.”
The exchange is yet to start offering its services in Thailand, however. It awaits activation for now, with Yimwilai revealing that it will go live in the first quarter of this year. Once it establishes itself in Thailand, Vietnam is next for the exchange.
Zipmex has made great strides of late, expanding its operations from Singapore to other countries in just a few months. The investors have noticed the ambition and have backed the exchange. In its last funding round in September last year, the exchange raised $3 million. Led by Infinity Blockchain Holdings, the pre-Series A funding round placed the value of the exchange at $18 million.
Thailand has been a lucrative market for crypto exchanges. While the SEC has been very stringent on its licensing, those that have made it have flourished. One of these is Bitkub Online, a Bangkok-based exchange that raised $1.7 million in September last year from an undisclosed investor. At the time, the exchange revealed that it has been overwhelmed by the account opening applications, proving that the appetite for crypto in Thailand is soaring.
The Thai crypto market isn’t without its fair share of hiccups either. For instance, still in September last year, one of the leading exchanges at the time announced from the blue that it was ceasing operations in the country. Bitcoin Co. had operated in Thailand for five years before the unexpected announcement.
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