Thailand’s Kasikorn Bank Buys Majority Stake in Satang Crypto Exchange for $103M

Thailand’s Kasikorn Bank, besides known arsenic K-Bank, said it has acquired 97% shares successful the genitor institution of Satang crypto exchange, which has operated successful the state since 2017.

According to a filing, the woody has a valuation of 3.705 cardinal Thai baht ($102.8 million) and was done via a caller K-Bank subsidiary called Unita Capital, which has a mandate to put successful integer assets companies.

Once the woody closes, Satang volition beryllium re-branded to Orbix. The caller institution volition besides person 3 further subsidiaries: Orbix Custodian, Orbix Invest (a integer plus money manager), and Orbix Technology, a blockchain exertion developer.

The announcement comes a period aft K-Bank launched a $100 cardinal fund targeting web3, fintech, and AI. K-Bank’s rival, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), is besides making assertive moves into web3 and crypto.

“K-Bank is intensifying its efforts successful the cryptocurrency sector, positioning itself alongside SCB. They are keen connected offering a afloat spectrum of crypto services permitted successful Thailand,” Udomsak Rakwongwan, a prof astatine Kasetsart University and the co-founder of FWX.finance, which K-Bank invested in, told CoinDesk.

Rakwongwan said that K-Bank precocious secured a crypto speech licence and is “actively pursuing the remaining licenses” for crypto successful Thailand. He besides noted that the Thai marketplace is unsocial arsenic it has a precocious level of organization support.

Aside from SCB and K-Bank, the Thai vigor elephantine Gulf has a associated task with Binance done its Gulf Innova money to bring a regulated, section mentation of the speech into the market.

“The cryptocurrency concern successful Thailand is acceptable to go much competitory arsenic large players involvement their claim,” helium said. “With the proprietor of Gulf being 1 of Thailand’s richest individuals, the dynamics are bound to shift. The immense superior and power of these giants mightiness airs endurance challenges for smaller players successful the field.”