Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will implement stringent advertising rules for cryptocurrency firms operating in the country by October 2022. The Thai SEC informed cryptocurrency-related businesses operating in the country via email that adverts concerning digital currencies must have clear investment warnings to consumers on Sep. 1. The statement was later posted on the SEC website. The Securities regulator has instituted the new standards for cryptocurrency-related adverts in response to a number of marketing campaigns that have neglected to include investment risk warnings. The new standards will require adverts to not feature false, misleading or exaggerated claims and include …

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, announced enforcement actions against the chief technology officer of crypto exchange Bitkub allegedly using insider information around the purchase of Bitkub Coin (KUB). In a Tuesday announcement, the Thai SEC said it had fined Bitkub CTO Samret Wajanasathian 8,530,383 baht — roughly $234,000 at the time of publication — and intended to bar him from being a director or executive officer at any crypto firm for a year. The financial regulator alleged Wajanasathian purchased roughly $61,000 worth of KUB tokens in advance of an announced deal in which Siam Commercial Bank, or SCB, …

Asian crypto exchange Zipmex has requested meetings with Thailand's Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulators to discuss the firm’s “recovery plan.” In a statement on Aug. 25, Zipmex said it had submitted a letter requesting meetings with the securities regulator, which will also be attended by the firm’s potential investors. “We have requested meetings with Thailand’s Securities Exchange Commission and regulators in the country where we operate to introduce our investors to regulators and present our recovery plan to government agencies.” Though the company was tight-lipped on who the investors may be, Zipmex noted that it was in “advanced …

Thailand’s oldest bank has scrapped plans it first announced in November 2021 to become the majority shareholder of crypto exchange Bitkub. In a Thursday announcement, Siam Commercial Bank’s SCB X Group said it would no longer be paying 17,850 million Baht — roughly $536 million in November and $497 million at the time of publication — to acquire a 51% stake in the Thailand-based crypto exchange. The bank cited concerns with Bitkub “resolving various issues” according to recommendations from the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission without a definite timeline. According to the SCB, the company conducted a due diligence exercise …

Cryptocurrency exchange Zipmex has gotten a chance to sort out liquidity issues as a court in Singapore has granted the firm with more than three months of creditor protection. Singapore’s High Court has ruled to give each of the five Zipmex entities a moratorium until Dec. 2, 2022 to come up with a restructuring plan, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The action aims to protect Zipmex from potential creditor lawsuits during the moratorium period after the exchange abruptly halted crypto withdrawals on its platform in mid-July. The cryptocurrency has since resumed partial withdrawals from Zipmex’s trade wallet but is yet to …

Thailand-based metaverse startup Translucia Global Innovation has partnered with the Australian software development firm Two Bulls and set aside an initial budget of $100 million to build a Metaverse Research and Development Center (MRDC) in Melbourne. Translucia is a subsidiary of art and entertainment company T&B Media Global, which in October 2021, launched its Translucia Metaverse project, with a first-stage investment of $283 million for the virtual world. Now, T&B are partnering with Two Bulls to build the MRDC to bring the project to life with a slated soft launch for November this year. Two Bulls Founder and CEO James …

Major cryptocurrency trading platform Huobi continues expanding its global presence by securing new licenses in New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. On Friday, Huobi Group obtained the Innovation License under the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), securing the company’s first-ever license there. The DIFC license is not a trading license but rather authorizes Huobi to incentivize technology startups to set up operations in Dubai, Huobi Group chief financial officer Lily Zhang told Cointelegraph on Monday. The license unlocks a number of benefits like access to the local tech ecosystem and preferential treatment for technology research and developments, capital flows …

After its operating license was revoked by the Thai Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), Huobi’s Thailand unit is set to wind down operations by July 1. The Thai SEC revoked Huobi’s license in May after it failed to comply with the local regulations. The permanent closure orders come nearly eight months after the regulators suspended the exchange’s services in September. Huobi Thailand is based on the original Huobi Cloud Thailand project built by Huobi Cloud and its local Thai partner G.L.T. Huobi Cloud provides only technical product support and brand authorization. The current brand authorization and technical service contracts with …

Thailand-based Gulf Energy has made strategic investments in cryptocurrency exchange Binance US and signaled its pursuit of a joint venture with the global Binance exchange as part of a targeted effort to gain exposure to the digital asset market. Gulf Energy disclosed in a regulatory filing on April 18 that it invested in “Series Seed Preferred Stock issued by BAM Trading Services Inc.,” which is the operator of Binance US. The investment in Binance US gives Gulf Energy exposure to “one of the fastest user scale-up exchanges in the world” well ahead of the exchange’s planned initial public offering, the …

In an ongoing effort to carve out a regulated crypto market for the general public, the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies for payments. Parallelly, the Commission proposed a new rule that demands disclosure of service quality and IT usage information from crypto businesses including brokers, exchanges and dealers. According to the notice issued by the Thai SEC, businesses in the region have been advised against accepting crypto payments from April 2022 after discussing its implications with the Bank of Thailand (BOT). The joint study conducted by the BOT and SEC concluded …

Amid the United States and the European Union taking measures to prevent Russia from using cryptocurrencies for potential evasion of sanctions, some countries in Asia have also been moving to respond to the situation. Japan to fine crypto exchanges for violating sanctions Japan became the latest country in Asia to call cryptocurrency firms to comply with sanctions against Russia, requesting them on Monday to not process crypto transactions involving sanctioned individuals or entities in Russia and Belarus. The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) and the Ministry of Finance issued a joint statement on sanctions against Russia, stressing that crypto is …

The finance ministry of Thailand has reportedly eased up crypto tax regulations to promote investment in the digital asset market. The changes to the tax regulations come just a few weeks after the government scrapped its early plans of introducing a 15% tax on crypto gains. The new tax policy exempts crypto traders from the 7% value-added tax (VAT) on authorized exchanges, reported Reuters. The revised tax policy would also allow traders to offset their annual losses against gains for their crypto investment. This comes as big relief for traders, given most of the governments at this point are only …