Today a subsidiary of Thailand’s second largest bank Kasikorn Bank, launched an NFT art marketplace Coral. The NFT marketplace is just one part of KASIKORN X or KX which has broader plans in decentralized finance (DeFi).
The bank has a technology subsidiary KBTG and started talking about plans for KX in early 2020. In March 2021, KX spun out its first offering, its digital assets subsidiary KUBIX. Essentially KUBIX is a security token platform that is fully compliant with Thai SEC rules. The company operates an ICO portal, but in Thailand, the ICO term has a different meaning to the unregulated ICOs popular in 2017/2018.
KUBIX screens issuers and assesses business plans, including reviewing draft prospectuses before they are submitted to the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission.
Additionally, KBTG partnered with the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) to launch digital asset trading later this year, where KBTG is the technology partner.
Kasikorn Bank is not the only Thai bank embracing blockchain. Siam Commercial Bank created a venture division SCB 10X in early 2020. In February, it announced a $50 million digital asset and DeFi fund, and in September, a larger $600 – 800 million blockchain and fintech fund as a joint venture with Thai conglomerate CP Group. In an even more significant step, the company created a new holding company SCBx transforming itself into a technology group.
Both banks are involved in the Thai electronic Letter of Guarantee platform that has used blockchain, which had issued more than $300 million guarantees by October last year.
