The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Thailand has given its approval for the fintech arm of financial services giant Seamico Securities Plc to operate a fully regulated Initial Coin Offering (ICO) platform.

SE Digital gets Thai financial regulator’s backing

In an exciting development for cryptocurrency enthusiasts in Thailand, the nation’s financial watchdog has given SE Digital the go-ahead to operate as an official ICO platform in the crypto-friendly Southeast Asian country.

SE Digital’s approval comes nearly seven months to the day since the SEC announced that it had approved its first ICO portal, which was to be operated by an unnamed foreign company.

The Seamico Securities (ZMICO) subsidiary plans to launch the country’s first investment token, with a valuation of between THB 2 billion to THB 3 billion (US$65 million to $98 million).

As an ICO portal, the financial technology company will be able to offer customers access to crypto investment opportunities that have been vetted by the platform.

The platform is also positioning itself as a “one-stop shop” for token offerings with strategic advisory services as well as primary issuance and secondary market support and compliance services such as know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML).

Regulated secondary digital market in the pipeline

In related news, Elevated Returns, ZMICO’s strategic investor, is looking to launch a digital currency exchange named ERX Company Limited (ERX), which the firm says will serve as a secondary market to trade investment tokens offered by SE Digital.

ZMICO’s strategic investor has also filed a Digital Assets Exchange License application with the SEC to make its intended launch of ERX a possibility.

Commenting on the SEC’s approval of its ICO portal, Jesadavat Priebjrivat, SE Digital’s CEO expressed his excitement over the achievement.

“We are glad to have obtained an approval to operate as the official ICO Portal and are excited to turn a new page on Thailand’s capital market history as the country will become one of the first nations in ASEAN to offer regulated digital token offerings,” he said.

Priebjrivat also noted that the move is a win-win scenario for all, as it will be beneficial to investors, issuers, and the Thai economy as a whole.

A safe haven

At a time when blockchain technology is gaining significant traction in the financial sector due to its properties that allow for the tokenization of real-world assets, Priebjrivat says the new ICO portal will also help entities to tokenize real estate and other assets.

What’s more, the team has revealed that ICO organizers aiming to conduct their fundraisers before getting the SEC’s seal of approval, can do so on its platform without getting into trouble.

“The [new fundraising alternative] allows access to a wider pool of capital providers with cost savings accrued from the digitization on the blockchain,” Priebjrivat said.

Explaining how the ICO portal could impact Thailand’s capital market Stephen Ng, SE Digital’s Chief Marketing Officer, reiterated that the nation’s liberal stance towards digital assets could make it a hotbed for businesses and technology firms interested in investing in cryptoassets.

“This will, in the long-run, support Thailand’s digital economic transformation,” Ng said.

Thailand cautiously embracing crypto

While nations like India, China, and a few others still see nothing good in Bitcoin and altcoins, Thai authorities recently conducted a public hearing to seek the opinions of the public concerning the strict rules governing its cryptospace and a possible relaxing of those rules to attract more investors.

Regulators are remaining ever-vigilant, however, as scams within the Thai crypto industry appear to be on the rise.

Just last month, authorities arrested “cryptocurrency wizard” Mana Jumuang, a 48-year-old Thai man, for his alleged role in a scam that, along with a gang of Vietnamese nationals, defrauded investors in at least 10 different Asian nations of more than THB 500 million (US$16 million).