Binance, Thai Billionaire Win Regulatory Greenlight To Start Crypto Exchange In Early 2024

Forbes Asia Binance, Thai Billionaire Win Regulatory Greenlight To Start Crypto Exchange In Early 2024 Jonathan Burgos Forbes Staff Following Click to save this article. You'll be asked to sign into your Forbes account. Nov 16, 2023, 10:14pm EST Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Sarath Ratanavadi, founder and CEO of Gulf Energy. Forbes Thailand Gulf Binance—a joint venture between Binance Holdings and Sarath Ratanavadi ’s Gulf Energy Development—will start operating a cryptocurrency exchange next year after the country’s regulator greenlighted the business earlier this month. Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission had on November 10 approved the application of Gulf Binance to operate a platform that will provide digital asset exchange and digital asset broker services for both cryptocurrencies and digital tokens, Gulf Energy said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. The crypto exchange is now open to users by invitation only and will be available to the general public in early 2024, it added. “The company believes that Gulf Binance, with its globally standardized platform, will elevate the level of service in Thailand and promote advancements in the country's blockchain ecosystem through the provision of services in digital asset infrastructure and blockchain technology,” Yupapin Wangviwat, deputy and CEO and chief financial officer of Gulf Energy, said in the filing. Gulf Energy, one of Thailand’s biggest power producers, first announced in January 2022 that it has partnered with billionaire Changpeng Zhao ’s Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange by volume. The project is among Sarath’s initiatives to diversify into new businesses. Gulf Energy has been deepening investments in telecommunications by buying stakes in Singtel-backed InTouch and its wireless unit AIS in 2021 and taking over satellite operator Thaicom last year. The company was founded by Sarath in 2007. With a net worth of $11.3 billion, Sarath ranked no. 5 on the list of Thailand’s 50 Richest that was published in June. MORE FOR YOU Coinbase Reveals ‘Massive’ $48 Trillion Opportunity Amid Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP And Crypto Price Pump Bitcoin As Legal Tender Joana Cotar Of German Bundestag Proposes Groundbreaking Legislation In Germany How Investors Should Play The Upcoming Bitcoin Halving MORE FROM FORBES MORE FROM FORBES Binance Partners With Thai Billionaire's Energy Giant To Set Up Crypto Exchange By Zinnia Lee MORE FROM FORBES Energy Billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi's Wealth Rockets As His Telecoms Bet Pays Off By Jonathan Burgos Send me a secure tip . Jonathan Burgos Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions