How Thai Crypto Unicorn Bitkub Plans to Become the Coinbase of Asia
December 01 2021 - 6:59PM
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Thailand startup Bitkub Capital Group Holdings, founded in 2018,
hit unicorn status last month notching up a valuation of over $1
billion. Now the crypto exchange intends to expand over Malaysia,
the Philippines, and Laos, aiming to become “the Coinbase of
Southeast Asia”, said the chief executive officer Jirayut
Srupsrisopa. The Bangkok-based crypto exchange is aiming for huge
growth during 2022 as it looks for the possibilities for
partnership in Southeast Asia and setting up its own units,
Bloomberg reported. Part of the strategy focuses on monopolizing in
countries that lack bigger players, which opens the doors to
dominate the field. Our strategy is to expand in countries that
have no clear winners yet and are under-banked, with high social
media usage and the potential to use cryptocurrency for
remittances, … The expansion will be achieved either through new
ventures or acquisitions. The goal is to become the Coinbase of
Southeast Asia. The American company Coinbase Global Inc. is a
crypto assets marketplace, and its technology provides a way to
build crypto-based applications, among other services. It says on
the Coinbase website that they roughly have “73 million verified
users, 10,000 institutions, and 185,000 ecosystem partners in over
100 countries trust Coinbase to easily and securely invest, spend,
save, earn, and use crypto.” Related Reading | Coinbase Will
Invest 10% Of Its Profits In Crypto Going Forward The Crypto
Unicorn Climbs Up Last month, Bitkub saw a 24-hour turnover after
Siam Commercial Bank Plc bought a 51% stake of the startup for
17.85 billion baht (over $528,8 million), which valued Thailand’s
largest crypto exchange at 35 billion baht ($1 billion). This set
Bitkub at the 79th spot within 300 international exchanges
worldwide ranked by CoinMarketCap. Its native digital coin almost
tripled in value following the purchase announcement. Jirayut
Srupsrisopa claimed back then that “Bitkub is no longer just a
startup and is now becoming a necessary part of the infrastructure
critical for Thailand’s financial industry.” Now, he plans to climb
on top of that thought. Related Reading | Bitcoin Payments
Card Are Coming To Asia Pacific, Courtesy Of Mastercard Although
Southeast Asia’s unamicable policies on crypto-assets might
represent an obstacle for crypto startups to reach such ambitious
goals, Jirayut expects a brighter future in which policymakers and
regulators recognize the general embracing of crypto and finally
back them, “they can’t avoid it forever” he said. We have kept on
going despite calls from the anti-money laundering agency and the
central bank, … Regulations have always followed innovation. The
majority of people would have given up because of these
regulations. We’re crazy enough to keep going. Earlier, Bitkub also
became one of three Asian platforms to partner with Mastercard to
offer crypto credit, debit, and prepaid cards for users and
businesses based in the Asia Pacific. This partnership allows users
to convert Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies into fiat money to
make purchases, giving them the “choice and flexibility in how they
pay”, said Mastercard’s executive vice president Rama Sridhar.
Jirayut also shared Bitkub’s expectation for a 1,350% growth in
revenue in 2021, reaching around 5 billion baht ($148 million).
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