In an interview with Reuters, a senior official from Thai power producer Gulf Energy Development Pcl (GULF.BK) said the company plans to complete a joint venture (JV) with Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, in the second quarter of this year.
“Once we finish talks with Binance on the business model and shareholder agreements, we’ll form a JV that will apply to regulators for a license,” Gulf chief financial officer Yupapin Wangviwat said.
She estimates that the JV will take around six months to secure a trading license, after which more features will be added.
Cryptocurrency trading has exploded in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, with November transactions totaling 251 billion baht ($7.57 billion), leading officials to enact laws.
According to Yupapin, the Gulf-Binance crypto exchange would have to follow regulations.
Binance was charged with operating without a digital asset license by Thailand’s securities regulator last year.
The company’s entrance into crypto is part of its owner and CEO Sarath Ratanavadi’s intentions to expand into digital infrastructure, which began last year with a 48 billion baht deal to increase its stake in InTouch Holdings Pcl to 42 percent. find out more
AIS, the country’s largest mobile operator, is owned by InTouch (ADVANC.BK). Gulf formed a separate joint venture with Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI) and AIS to build data centers on Thursday.
