Ready To Take Over Thai Market, K-Bank Acquisition Of Satang Pro Crypto Exchange

JAKARTA - The traditional financial sector and the growing cryptocurrency industry are increasingly closely integrated. Recently, Kasikornbank, known as K-Bank in Thailand, has bought the majority of shares of the local digital asset trading platform, Satang Pro.

According to the latest report, K-Bank has acquired 97% of the shares of the parent company Satang with a value of around 3.705 billion Thai baht or around $102.8 million (around Rp1.6 trillion).

Satang Pro Ready To Change Name

This acquisition is carried out through a newly formed subsidiary of K-Bank, Unita Capital, which is tasked with investing in digital asset companies.

After operating for five years as a registered exchange in Thailand, Satang Pro will change its name to Orbix after the acquisition process is complete. After changing its name, the company will be divided into three units: Orbix Customer, Orbix Invest, and Orbix Technology.

According to the announcement, newly formed companies will focus on various aspects in the crypto space, including digital asset trading services, investment management, and blockchain infrastructure development.

The acquisition of the Satang Pro is a bold K-Bank step after recently announcing the launch of a $100 million investment fund aimed at investing in the Web3 sector, artificial intelligence (AI), and fintech startups.

K-Bank has an ambitious goal of controlling 20% of the crypto market in Thailand through the acquisition of Satang Pro, which has more than one million users and supports trading of around 45 cryptocurrencies.

According to a CoinDesk report citing Udomsak Rakwongwan, a professor at the University of Kasetsart and co-founder of FWX.finance, K-Bank has received regulatory permits in Thailand to offer crypto trading services legally.

K-Bank is also working on obtaining another license needed to provide more crypto services in accordance with local law.

Pesat Industri Kripto Growth In Thailand

Apart from K-Bank, other financial institutions in Thailand have also entered the crypto world. Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), K-Bank's rival, recently partnered with Hased to advance Web 3 adoption. The two institutions agreed to cooperate in joint initiatives and research to promote decentralized technology around the world.

Thai energy company Gulf has also collaborated with Binance via Gulf Innova to bring regulated and local digital asset exchanges to Thailand, opening the door to a new era of digital asset trading in the country.

This development is expected to make competition in the Thai crypto sector even tighter, with big players from the financial world investing in the growing digital asset market. While small players may face challenges to compete with capital and the huge influence that big financial institutions have.