Earlier this week the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved certain cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Litecoin and, perhaps more surprisingly, Stellar Lumens, for use as trading pairs or as payment for ICO tokens.
Now, in a further piece of good news for crypto-enthusiasts in Thailand, the SEC has now given the go ahead to five ICOs to conduct their offerings, provided they stick to the new cryptocurrency regulations which came into effect last month.
The unnamed ICOs will serve as a pilot for Thailand’s nascent ICO scene as all players — ICOs, regulators and investors — figure out how they can develop together.
Investor Protection
The updated legal framework is designed to protect investors and requires that ICOs register with regulators before any token sale. 50 ICOs have so far presented themselves to the SEC, but according to Thawatchai Kiatkwankul, the SEC’s director of corporate finance, only five are ready to be registered.
When asked what regulators were looking for, Mr. Thawatchai said that, “Projects which can be [easily vetted] and have commercial attributes attached to them will be considered for fund-raising.”
Quoted in the Bangkok Post, Mr. Thawatchai implied that once the public were better educated on the risks inherent in ICO and cryptocurrency investment, he might be able to loosen some of the restrictions placed on the industry.
Certainly he seems to believe that the ICO scene in Thailand can only get bigger: the country’s SEC is already beefing up its headcount to deal with the influx of expected ICO registrations.
