With the way that cryptocurrencies have been growing in recent years, it comes as no surprise that most financial institutions are taking a vested interest in it. Various banks from around the world like Standard Chartered have started working on providing cryptocurrencies to people that are new to the market. Overall, this has been an incredible win for cryptocurrencies as whole, as major institutions joining them are a declaration of acceptance for the new asset.
And one of the newest banks to take on the cryptocurrencies for the asset that it is has been the Thailand bank SCB. As one of the biggest banks in the country, SCB’s bullish move proved to be a head turner, as it was the last thing that anyone was expecting.
The massive bank in Thailand recently bought out 51% of a crypto exchange by the name of Bitkub. The 51% acquisition came with the price tag of $536 million worth of the country’s baht. In terms of assets, SCB manages to rank fourth in the entire country. And when such a massive bank decides to hold the leading shares in a local exchange, it is going to make international news.
The CEO for one of the largest banks in the country, Arthid Nanthawithaya, commented on the recent acquisition. He said that the newly acquired crypto exchange will allow them to grow in this newly developing financial market. He also said that digital currencies have been growing rapidly in the past one to two years, and will continue to grow as expected. And as it continues to grow exponentially I size, SCB will be ready for it.
While both parties have agreed to the deal, they still have to sign the relevant paperwork to finalize the deal. And according to insider news, the deal will most likely complete by the second quarter of 2022. While this might sound a little slow, most relevant regulatory parties usually have to be very careful when working on such a big deal. In fact, some are wondering why the deal is not taking longer.
Thailand is proving to be a heavily populated crypto city, as more and more companies are starting to offer the ability to work with crypto. Recently, one of the biggest mall realtors in the country was considering offering cryptocurrencies. They would also pay off their staff in a private cryptocurrency, allowing them to use it on a variety of other shops and retail outlets. So overall, Thailand is looking like the next epicenter for cryptocurrencies as a whole. And in due time, it would not be surprising to see many more companies make their way there.