While crypto market cap has tumbled from November’s high, the market is “still sound” and has “high potential” for growth, Gulf Energy CEO Sarath Ratanavadi said.

Thailand’s second-richest person plans to increase his crypto-related investments in the coming months despite scrutiny from the local government and falling participation from retail traders on local exchanges, Bloomberg reported.

Sarath Ratanavadi, CEO of power company Gulf Energy Development, told Bloomberg in a Wednesday interview that his company plans to invest more in the crypto industry to create additional sources for earnings. Blockchain technology platforms and cryptocurrencies will be “key drivers for the company’s strongest returns” as the overall market remains sound and has “high potential” for growth, he said.

Ratanavadi will be following a path blazed by businesses elsewhere in the world that have, in the past few years, increasingly turned to crypto to bolster revenues. Firms taking the plunge include business software maker MicroStrategy – which has invested billions of dollars in bitcoin – electric-car maker Tesla, technology conglomerate Block and Chinese photo application firm Meitu.

Still, those bets have largely soured amid a market-wide decline: MicroStategy reported nearly $1 billion in losses on its holdings, Meitu lost over $52 million, and Tesla sold over $930 million in bitcoin earlier this year citing “uncertainty of the COVID lockdowns in China.”

The decision comes as Thailand’s retail trader market is dwindling. Data from the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission cited by Bloomberg showed the number of active trading accounts fell to 260,000 in July from 692,000 in January, coinciding with a fall in crypto prices. Bitcoin (BTC) is now 69% lower than its record high, with ether (ETH) and other major cryptocurrencies such as solana (SOL) registering declines of as much as 86%, CoinGecko data shows.

Ratanavadi remains unfazed, however. He said his company plans to open a crypto exchange in Thailand in partnership with crypto exchange Binance and is actively seeking licenses.

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Thailand’s oldest bank said Bitkub Online needs to resolve various issues at the request of Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission.

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), Thailand’s oldest lender, abandoned a plan to buy a majority of Bitkub Online, the country’s largest crypto exchange, citing unresolved regulatory issues in a statement on Thursday.

SCB had agreed to acquire 51% of the exchange for 17.85 billion baht ($500 million) in November. The transaction was expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2022.

“Bitkub is currently in the process of resolving various issues as per the recommendations and orders of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand, which are uncertain in terms of timeframe in resolving those issues. As a result, the Buyer and the Seller have agreed to terminate the Transaction,” Siam Commercial said.

In May the exchange was hit with fines from the Thai SEC for not complying with digital asset listing rules when adding KUB Coin. The SEC also told Bitkub to improve its platform after it experienced trading outages in January last year.

A due diligence investigation of Bitkup didn’t highlight any major problems, Siam Commercial said. The bank also reiterated its intention to enter into the blockchain and digital asset arena.

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Pre-empting positive interpretation of the move, the Bank Of Thailand reiterated “it does not have plans to issue Retail CBDC.”

The Bank of Thailand, the nation’s central bank, said on Friday that it is extending the scope of retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) development by starting a pilot study.

The central bank said in an announcement that it “deems it necessary to extend the scope of retail CBDC development to a pilot phase.” However, it also reiterated its stance and said that it does not have plans to issue a retail digital currency.

Deputy Governor of the Bank of Thailand, Vachira Arromdee, noted in the release that central banks around the world were seeing “the potential of retail CBDC as being the foundation of the future financial system.”

The latest pilot would be in addition to previous wholesale CBDC projects and the proof of concept study for retail CBDC being conducted with the help of the corporate sector.

The pilot phase will be aimed at testing real-life application of a retail CBDC and will be conducted with the support of the private sector. This will help the Bank of Thailand formulate related policies and improve the CBDC design, the announcement said.

The first of two tracks of the pilot will focus on assessing “the system’s efficiency and safety” by “conducting cash-like activities, such as paying for goods and services, within limited areas and scale of approximately 10,000 retail users selected by the Bank.”

This first track is expected to begin at the end of 2022 and last until mid-2023.

The Bank of Thailand has earlier said “don’t use crypto for payments” and Thailand’s SEC has banned the use of crypto as a means of payment from April 1, 2022.

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The Thai SEC stressed that it is only banning the use of crypto for payments and is not banning crypto trading and digital assets.

Thailand’s Security and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday that it will ban the use of crypto as a means of payment from April 1.

The regulator cited money laundering concerns and the inability of the central bank to step in and provide assistance as the reason behind the ban.

The Thai SEC stressed that this is not a ban on crypto trading and digital assets, which has become more popular among the locals in the last two years, just a ban on the use of crypto for payments.

In January, Thai authorities announced a plan to regulate digital asset payments in the country.

In the latest announcement, the Thai SEC said that digital assets do not provide improved efficiency to the payments market because of their volatility and high transaction fees.

Last year, many domestic property developers looked to crypto as a way to revitalize interest in the country’s condominium market which is largely geared towards foreigners.

Thai authorities announced in early March that crypto trades on government approved exchanges will be exempt from a 7% value-added-tax (VAT) until 2023.

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Crypto traders on government-approved exchanges will be exempt from a 7% VAT tax, the country’s finance minister said at a cabinet meeting.

Thailand is relaxing tax rules for crypto trading until the end of 2023 in order to boost the industry, the country’s finance minister said at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Starting April 1, trades of digital assets on government-approved exchanges will be exempt from a 7% value-added-tax (VAT), said the minister, Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, according to the meeting minutes posted on the government’s website. Transfers involving Thailand’s retail central bank digital currency will also be exempt from the VAT over the same time period, he said.

Traders will also be able to deduct losses from crypto trading from taxes due on gains, the minister said.

A draft decree of the new tax exemptions has been proposed under Thailand’s Revenue Code, said Ekniti Nitithanpraphas, general director of the finance ministry’s revenue department, according to the meeting minutes. The draft aims to increase the competitiveness of the industry and develop payment system infrastructure that is ready for the digital economy, he said.

In January, the government scrapped a proposed 15% tax on crypto gains following pushback from traders.

Crypto trading has been growing over the past year in the second-largest Southeast Asian economy, with the number of new crypto investors reportedly outpacing new stock market traders in September.

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