Cross-border remittance currently stands as one of crypto’s best use cases that will thrust it into mainstream finance. Running parallel to this trend, a new partnership between Velo Labs and two financial institutions has now resulted in a $17-billion remittance corridor between Europe and Thailand. Using Velo Labs’ blockchain-based financial protocol, local financial institutions Tempo Payments and Bitazza will host the cross-border remittance service, connecting Thailand and 27 European countries. The corridor will be hosted on the Stellar blockchain and will make use of Velo tokens and Velo digital credits for the on-chain transactions. The new corridor will be serviceable …

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) continues progressing with its central bank digital currency- (CBDC)-like initiative known as Bakong, disclosing several project milestones. NBC’s director general and the Bakong project lead Chea Serey said in a Wednesday interview with The Nikkei that Bakong’s electronic wallet reached 200,000 users in June, doubling from three months earlier. Based on blockchain technology, the Bakong payment and money transfer service was originally launched by the NBC in October 2020. The digital money project has amassed nearly six million users in the first half of 2021, including those reached indirectly through member bank mobile apps, …

Asia-Pacific crypto-fiat trading platform Zipmex has forged a strategic partnership with Visa in a bid to improve the convenience of its payment programs and products. The platform's payment network ZipSend, designed to enable users to spend their crypto, will be integrated into Visa’s worldwide network of 70 million merchants. Following the partnership, Zipmex aims to release a Visa-branded payment card later this year. Zipmex, which has compliant operations in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia, currently has a user base of over 200,000 and has reported over $1 billion in gross transaction volume since its launch in late 2019. The company …

Arak Sutivong, CEO of SCB 10X and the president of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), has offered an insight into how one of the largest venture capital funds in Southeast Asia views the future of decentralized finance (DeFi) when it comes to the contentious question of regulation. SCB 10X is the venture arm of SCB, Thailand's oldest bank, and mostly focuses on investing in blockchain-based financial services, such as DeFi and digital assets. In his opening speech at SCB 10X’s second annual global DeFi virtual summit, REDeFiNE, Sutivong stressed that by now, DeFi had broken through to the mainstream “by many …

While serious institutional interest in crypto is perhaps becoming more of an established trend than an emerging narrative, the focus of big-money players is usually on Bitcoin (BTC). However, assets like Ether (ETH) and decentralized finance (DeFi) are beginning to pique the attention of major investors. For Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), via its SCB 10X subsidiary, DeFi is a major focus point of its current digital asset drive, as Thailand’s oldest bank prepares itself for the expected financial technological disruption of decentralized finance. While other banks are still undecided or only making temporary forays into interacting with digital assets, SCB …

The Bank of Thailand has issued a warning to crypto holders who use their digital assets as a medium of exchange, saying if these practices become widespread it may take strong regulatory measures. In a Thursday statement, the central bank said anyone who engaged in the trade of digital assets for goods and services, as the sender or recipient, could face risks including money laundering, theft, and price volatility. The Bank of Thailand, or BOT, reiterated its position that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) are not legal tender in the country and warned of consequences from regulators: “Should …

Bithumb’s Hong Kong affiliates are reportedly facing a civil suit for breach of contract. According to a Tuesday report by the Korea Times, the suit is being initiated by a former Bithumb partner in Thailand, which is accusing the South Korean-headquartered exchange of unilaterally halting its business in Thailand and causing major losses. The Thai firm — which remains unnamed — is reportedly preparing to file a lawsuit against Bithumb’s Hong Kong subsidiaries, including Bithumb Global Holdings and GBEX, as well as top company executives in July. According to the plaintiff firm, Bithumb’s Hong Kong-based entities were allegedly involved in …

Binance, the leading cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume, continues to face scrutiny from regulators regarding the legality of its operations in certain countries. Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) are the latest financial regulators to announce a regulatory crackdown on Binance. Thai SEC announced Friday that the agency had filed a criminal complaint against Binance, launching a criminal procedure and an investigation for allegedly operating a digital asset business without a license. The authority said that Binance had provided crypto trading services via its website by “matching orders or arranging for the counterparties …

Investment management company XSpring Capital has secured a large funding round with partners in Thailand to accelerate the development of its financial marketplace that combines traditional and digital asset products. It also hopes to bring an expanded platform to the United States. According to an announcement, the $225 million has been raised through a partnership with Thai real estate firm Sansiri, local insurance company Viryah, and Thai private investor and multi-millionaire Mongkol Prakitchaiwattana. Formerly known as Seamico Securities, XSpring Capital (not to be confused with Ripple’s Xpring project incubator), has a wide variety of trading licenses enabling it to operate …

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has approved guidelines prohibiting crypto exchanges in the country from supporting four different types of tokens in certain cases. In a Friday announcement from the Thai SEC, the regulatory body said that Secretary-General Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol had approved crypto exchange guidelines, Notification 18/2564 on “Rules, Conditions and Procedures for Undertaking Digital Asset Business,” on Wednesday to go into effect. The new rules ban Thai exchanges from handling meme-based tokens, fan-based tokens, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and exchange-issued tokens. For tokens issued by exchanges, the SEC said that any cryptocurrencies had to precisely conform to the descriptions in …

In their latest effort to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, Thailand’s financial regulators have turned their sights toward decentralized finance, or DeFi. According to a June 1 report from Bangkok Post, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that any activities related to DeFi may require a license from the financial regulator in the near future. The SEC specifically stated it will target DeFi protocols that issue tokens. The latest regulatory push comes after the launch of the native token for Thai DeFi protocol Tuktuk Finance on the smart contract platform operated by popular local crypto exchange Bitkub on Sunday. …

Financial regulators in Thailand are preparing to tighten restrictions surrounding new account creation at crypto asset exchanges. According to a Monday report from Bangkok Post, the country’s Anti-Money Laundering Office announced that as of July, crypto exchanges must verify the identities of new customers in-person using a “dip-chip” machine. While new users can currently verify their identities with crypto exchanges by submitting documents online, the dip-chip machines will scan a chip embedded in Thai citizen ID cards, requiring customers to be physically present for the verification process. The new rules may also prevent foreign investors — who are unable to …