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The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand announced on Tuesday that the country’s Ministry of Finance has approved four applicants to operate cryptocurrency exchanges. The newly licensed broker-dealers are Bx, Bitkub, Coins and Satang Pro.

The move affirms Thailand’s push to become a key cryptocurrency player in Asia where Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong are established hubs for blockchain entrepreneurs.

A fifth exchange, Coin Asset, is pending review.

According to the announcement, two exchanges were rejected. Both Cash2Coin Company Limited (Cash2coin) and South East Asia Digital Exchange Limited (SEADEX) will shutter their operations by January 14. The Finance Ministry says the exchanges were denied due to poor know-your-customer regulations, and unsafe IT security and cybersecurity systems.

Speaking to TechCrunch, Jirayut Srupsrisopa, the founder of Bitkub says,

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“We can partner with traditional financial institutions, brokers, e-wallets, etc. to offer more financial products to customers. The bottleneck was the regulation.”

The legalization of cryptocurrency exchanges is a major step forward for the crypto movement as regulators around the globe map out clear legal frameworks to support entrepreneurs, developers, investors, and crypto-related businesses.

Bitkub states,

“This day is truly momentous event as we gain another step further for a wider cryptocurrency adoption in the world. Thailand is one of the first countries to legally recognized cryptocurrency trading and Bitkub.com is one of the first trusted companies to receive the exchange license in service of the Thai people.”

Bitkub also notes that by virtue of its approval, the cryptocurrencies it exchanges, including its top major coins – Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Bitcoin SV and Cardano – are legitimized.

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“More importantly, every coin listed in Bitkub.com’s platform has been screened rigorously by our Legal and Compliance Team in accordance to our listing procedure approved by the SEC. This process guarantee that only the quality and trusted cryptocurrency coins can be access on Bitkub.com’s platform.”