The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has unsealed a fraud complaint against Swedish citizen Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson and associated firm Eastern Metal Securities (EMS), according to a press release on June 19. According to the DoJ Karlsson and EMS are charged with committing securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Specifically, Karlsson allegedly instructed investors to pay for his products using virtual currencies, such as the cryptocurrency bitcoin (BTC). According to the complaint, the EMS website was registered to a made-up person, and offered shares of “Pre Funded Reversed Pension Plan” of which investors could allegedly purchase shares at …

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), Thailand’s largest commercial bank, has denied it plans to start using Ripple’s XRP token, contrary to earlier indications. The bank’s denial was communicated in a tweet published on June 7. The bank’s denial was prompted by an earlier post on social media dated June 5, when the bank’s official Twitter handle had responded to a user’s question regarding XRP and revealed ostensible plans to announce details of an unspecified “XRP system [...] soon.” With the June 5 tweet having since been deleted, SCB today has firmly stated that: “We are so sorry for the previous information …

Blockchain consortium R3 and global IT leader Wipro Limited have developed a blockchain solution prototype to enable digital currency for interbank settlements in Thailand, according to a press release from May 7. The release states that the solution will be used by the country’s central bank, the Bank of Thailand (BoT), and eight local commercial banks to enable decentralized interbank real-time gross settlement using a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC). As a part of the first phase of the project, dubbed Inthanon, the solution is based on R3’s open source blockchain platform Corda, and intends to expand the technological …

The Central Bank of Myanmar has urged consumers to stop trading cryptocurrencies amid fears that inexperienced users could lose money, Southeast Asian news outlet The Irrawaddy reported on May 3. In a statement obtained by the website, the central bank said it had received reports of several scams targeting those who lack understanding about virtual currencies. Authorities in Myanmar, also known as Burma, say the likes of bitcoin (BTC,) ether (ETH) and litecoin (LTC) are being traded in the country through Facebook profiles as well as websites. According to the report, the central bank has stressed that the use of …

The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deputy secretary-general Tipsuda Thavaramara has said that the recently introduced regulation allows for the issuance of digital shares and a tokenized securities depository platform. English-language local media Bangkok Post reported the declarations on May 2. In her comments, Thavaramara referred to the amendment to the Securities and Exchange Act of 2019, which is in effect since April 17. Per the report, the SEC urges all stakeholders to prepare for the amended act, which aims to help Thailand introduce blockchain use in trade and security tokenization. A major change made to the regulation reportedly …

Thailand’s largest commercial bank, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), and state oil company PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) performed a successful test of blockchain use for cross-border business-to-business payments. The bank recently announced the successful pilot on its website. Per the announcement, the project, which has been ongoing since mid-2018, aims to optimize operational efficiency. The bank claims that earlier this year, it has successfully carried out payments on blockchain within one minute. The post also points out that conventional methods require a wait of one to two days for the settlement to be carried out. SCB SEVP …

Telecoms giant NTT Corporation’s Thai subsidiary plans to launch a major innovation lab focused on blockchain, artificial intelligence and internet of things technology. Thai English-language newspaper the Bangkok Post reported on the development on April 23. NTT Communications (NTT Com) Thailand is the local operating unit of NTT Com Group, a subsidiary of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Corporation — Japan’s largest telecoms firm and the world’s third-largest telecoms firm by revenue. According to the Bangkok Post, the new lab is slated for launch in the second quarter of 2019, and comes in addition to NTT Com Thailand’s existing 500 …

Since July, Thailand and its Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have voiced their intent to legalize the local initial coin offering (ICO) market and open it to startups. On Dec. 1, 2018, however, Cointelegraph reported that the Thai SEC declared Thai-related security token offerings (STOs) in international markets to be illegal and said that it will take appropriate legal action against companies that attempt to distribute STOs created in Thailand to overseas markets. Tipsuda Thavaramara, the deputy secretary of the Thai SEC, reportedly said: “The regulator will have to consider how to deal with STOs for issues such as share …

The governors of two central banks endorsed the Ethereum (ETH)-based remittance system developed by blockchain company Everex, the firm reported in a press release shared with Cointelegraph today, April 5. The service is set up to send payments between Thailand and Myanmar. The system was reportedly presented by the startup, along with its partners, state-owned Krungthai Bank of Thailand and Shwe Bank of Myanmar, at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) central bank governors and finance ministers meeting on April 4. The Everex press release cites Veerathai Santiprabhob, the governor of Thailand’s Central Bank, as commenting on the project: …

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) plans to roll out its digital asset platform in 2020, according to an official statement released on March 13. Following recent reports purportedly revealing the plans, the SET has confirmed that it will build a digital asset platform as a part of its three-year strategic plan from 2019 to 2021. In the announcement, the Thai exchange claimed that the local capital market will experience a transformation into the digital age in two areas. The first field will be a complete digitization of the capital market infrastructure in order to provide paperless operations. The second …

Thailand’s securities regulator has approved the first initial coin offering (ICO) portal in the country, local daily news outlet the Bangkok Post reported on March 12. The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) board of directors has reportedly authorized the first ICO portal that allows to screen ICOs, perform due diligence, confirm smart contract source codes and conduct Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures. The operator of the ICO portal is reportedly a foreign entity. Archari Suppiroj, director of the fintech department at the SEC, reportedly told the Bangkok Post, “Thailand's first authorized ICO portal is being finalized for official approval …

Thai petroleum refining firm Bangchak Corporation Public Co. Limited (BCP) is testing a blockchain-based energy trading platform and commercial microgrid, distributed energy news site Microgrid Knowledge reports on March 7. BCP is testing the new platform at a shopping mall attached to one of its fuel stations in Bangkok. The new system will purportedly combine 280.9 kW of commercial rooftop and canopy solar photovoltaics with 913 kWh of lithium-ion, nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide and 92 kWh of lithium-iron-phosphate battery energy storage capacity. In other words, the microgrid generation and distribution platform will support the basic electricity needs of an average BCP fuel …