- The proposed system highlights the complete digitalization of bond trading for primary as well as secondary markets.
- The crypto landscape of Thailand has been developing into a more institutional market focus for tokenized securities as well as crypto assets.
- The Thai government is also looking to consider issuing a stablecoin supported by government bonds, as per the Jinshi report released on January 30.
The SEC Thailand is preparing to introduce a distributed ledger technology-based trading platform for securities companies to trade virtual tokens.
On February 3, the Bangkok Post mentioned that the deputy secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand revealed that token investments were getting traction and the regulator would permit securities firms to trade virtual tokens to capitalize on their big investor bases.
What did the deputy secretary-general of the SEC say?
The SEC is using technology to boost efficiency in the capital market by publicizing the electronic securities ecosystem, Jomkwan Kongsakul, the deputy secretary-general of the SEC Thailand.
Adding more to this, new laws will be introduced to facilitate the issuance of electronic securities and online buying of debentures, or medium-to-long-term debt instruments utilized by large firms to borrow money.
Four virtual token projects have been accepted for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new DLT debt instrument trading system, with two more under review aiming at green tokens and investment-based projects, the report further mentioned.
The proposed system highlights the complete digitalization of bond trading for primary as well as secondary markets, coverage of settlement, trading, investor registration, payment processes, and various chain support having interoperability standards, though it did not define which chains.
The deputy secretary general also mentioned that, in the future, there may be various trade chains. Trading by DLT on every system is linked by a shared ledger, which is anticipated to be completed soon.
The Crypto Landscape of Thailand
There are two types of securities set to be issued, tokenized traditional securities and electronic securities, which are products that initiate trading as virtual-native assets. The crypto landscape of Thailand has been developing into a more institutional market focus for tokenized securities as well as crypto assets, as per the CEO of Binance Thailand, Nirun Fuwattanankul.
Leveraging crypto for payments is still prohibited by the Thai central bank but there are further plans to introduce a Bitcoin payment sandbox on the tourist island of Phuket later this year. The pilot program will provide foreign visitors with an alternative crypto-payment option.
At the same time, it will permit regulators to evaluate linked risks in a sandbox environment. In January, ex-Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra revealed there was no risk in permitting the trade of stablecoins and other virtual tokens supported by tangible assets.
The Thai government is also looking to consider issuing a stablecoin supported by government bonds, as per the Jinshi report released on January 30. However, no official announcement has been made.
