Thailand’s SEC Set to Hold Public Hearing On Crypto Qualifications

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to hold a public hearing this month to ascertain what qualifications it will institute to protect retail investors eager to own cryptocurrencies, the BangkokPost reports.

SEC To Propose Qualifications Criteria

 The agency says the step is necessary to mitigate the risk exposure which generally characterizes owning a crypto asset. The SEC’s secretary-general Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol said the upcoming hearing may consider certain metrics like age, trading experience, and liquidity levels.

“Cryptocurrencies have high risks for investors. We should set some screening criteria such as age, trading experience and level of revenue or wealth to limit risks. These limits already exist for high-yield bonds, which are only available to some types of investors.”

The financial regulatory body says the proposed metrics will ensure new retail investors have sufficient financial security and knowledge to better absorb significant risks from volatile price swings. The agency became concerned following the increase in new account sign-ups on local cryptocurrency exchanges.

The hearing is a result of Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith’s directive that the SEC should properly monitor local exchanges in the country to protect newbie investors with little trading knowledge.

The country has seen an increase in the purchase of digital assets. Crypto acquisitions rose from 500 million baht in November and 1.1 billion in December last year to 1.2 billion in January. Digital assets acquisitions hit 400 million baht in the opening days of February alone. The total value of crypto assets traded between Jan.1 to Feb.8 was put at 130 million baht.

The SEC said there were an additional 124,000 new accounts created in the first week of February putting the total number of retail investors in the country north of 594,000 on Feb.8 and climbing.

According to data released by the SEC, Bitcoin was the most traded crypto asset having a 40% impact on the crypto industry. It was followed by the second-most valuable digital asset Ethereum with 24.3%, DOGE with 18.8%, and XRP with 12.6%.

BTC Gains Drawing More Investors In

Bitcoin’s meteoric rise seems to have no end with the largest cryptocurrency by market cap clocking a new ATH of $49,950 in the wee hours of Tuesday. But this is not the first time the digital asset has outperformed its peers by a large margin. 

In the opening days of 2021, its price skyrocketed over the $30,000 margin and dipped just shy of $42,000. In February as well, it exceeded the $40K mark and may likely hit $50,000 before the end of the month. 

These outstanding results have drawn a lot of investors- both novices and established financial conglomerates and businesses – into the crypto space. Recently publicly-traded electric car company Tesla Inc. made a $1.5 billion bet on BTC further aiding its rise.  

The sudden influx of institutions is due to the rising inflation and the rising demand for speculative assets that are profitable as the economy struggles to regain its feet following the covid-19 pandemic.