Crypto Exchange UpBit Scores Full Deck of Licenses From Thai SEC

After a series of regulatory changes led the South Korean exchange UpBit to force out its foreign users from the platform, the company is setting up a new division in Thailand.

According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, UpBit has received approval from Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission to operate its digital asset exchange in the country. 

The Thai SEC has approved the exchange for four provisional licenses that allow the company to operate under four categories namely cryptocurrency exchange, digital token exchange, cryptocurrency broker, and digital token broker.

UpBit claims that it is the first-ever digital asset business to have received all four licenses by the Thai SEC. This, they say, puts them above other Thailand-based exchange operators in terms of the number of licenses.

Explaining why these four separate licenses are important for the exchange, UpBit Thailand CEO Peeradej Tanruangporn said:

“In Thailand, there are separate licenses for exchange and brokerage businesses. An exchange license allows a business to do order matching. A brokerage license allows operators to take a customer's order to another exchange for order matching.”

While the final audit by the SEC is still pending, UpBit says it is already working on offering Thai crypto enthusiasts “innovative digital asset-related services.” 

Having acquired the licenses to operate the trade and exchange of both cryptocurrencies and tokens, UpBit Thailand is now eligible to offer the exchange of all possible combinations of fiat-crypto and crypto-crypto pairs to its users, Tanruangporn said.

UpBit is yet to finalize which currency and token pairs will be available on the exchange but said that “fiat to crypto will definitely be available from the very beginning.”

Tanruangporn also said the excahnge will be working closely with Thai regulators to formulate a tax scheme that is in the best interest of investors, service providers and innovators.