Thailand’s Ministry of Finance has licensed its second largest bank, KASIKORNBANK (KBank) to provide digital asset custody using the orbix CUSTODIAN brand. It will provide services to Thai digital asset businesses under the supervision of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). With the license under its belt, the bank is now readying its systems for launch in early 2025.
orbix CUSTODIAN is a subsidiary of Unita Capital, which in turn is owned by the KBank conglomerate. Last October KBank group acquired a local crypto exchange and rebranded it to orbix TRADE.
At the time it created orbix branded subsidiaries for custody and investment. The fund manager orbix INVEST began operations this July. It also has another division, orbix TECHNOLOGY, to provide blockchain infrastructure.
“orbix CUSTODIAN will play a crucial role in supporting digital asset businesses, enhancing the security of assets held by the licensed digital asset custodian in Thailand,” said Mr. Pipit Aneaknithi, KBank President. “This will lay a strong foundation for further development of digital financial infrastructure, promoting Thailand as a digital economy hub and advancing the country’s digital industry.”
The Thai banking group is active in both crypto and the tokenization of more traditional securities. Alongside Citi t participated in the funding of BondbloX, the Singapore fractional bond platform. Last September the bank launched KXVC, a $100 million venture capital fund targeting web3, DeFi and AI. Apart from investing in startups, it is also a venture builder recently developing Ainu, a digital identity verification solution.
