Continued regulatory uncertainty has turned 2018 into a turbulent year for ICOs in general. In the midst of this, though, the ICO community in Thailand will likely end the year on a high following an announcement by the country’s SEC head, Rapee Sucharitakul.
Speaking to a local news agency, Bangkok post, Mr. Rapee who is SEC Secretary General mentioned that ICOs may start receiving a regulatory green light to serve the Thai market before the end of the year.
“At least one ICO portal will be certified in November, then we can approve each ICO offering, which might start in December,” Mr. Rapee said.
It appears that a number of portals for different kinds of ICO are being planned by the Thai Securities Exchange Commission even though no further insight into this matter was shared by the top official.
He also said that the ICO portal would serve as a way to screen ICOs since it will prove the “smart contract codes” being used by the startups. The portal will also ensure that ICOs meet up with KYC rules.
Despite the improved scrutiny, Mr. Rapee reckoned that investors would still have to be on guard against falling victim to fraudulent ICOs.
“We have always warned investors against being persuaded to invest in ICO offerings because they could be scams or they might not have sufficient liquidity to trade,” said Mr. Rapee.
Thailand Crypto Exchanges To Obtain SEC License
In addition to setting up the ICO portal, the Thai securities agency has also review applications submitted by five crypto asset exchanges who are seeking an operating license. According to the report, the agency has sent the applications to the Thai’s Finance Ministry to give the final approval.
For the time being, the crypto exchanges will continue to carry out its operations since they submitted their applications within 90 days after Thailand issued a regulatory framework on how crypto related businesses would be regulated.
The Final Piece of Jigsaw in Thai’s Bid To Regulate Crypto Industry
The latest developments reported by the Thai secretary-general is pursuant to the Royal Decree in May which was added to the Royal Gazette. At that time, the country unveiled a 100-section regulatory framework to govern the crypto industry.
Among the major highlights of the law is that ICO, crypto exchanges, and other businesses in the industry would have to be vetted by the SEC before going into operation.
From that time onwards, the Thai SEC has been working to put things in place. With the new “ICO portal” launching soon and some exchanges finally going to get licensed, a calm is expected to set in the Thai crypto community.
The stage has been set for Thailand to become a big player in the crypto space!
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