Binance Seeks to Establish Thai Crypto Exchange Following MOU With Local Business

Binance’s move can be seen as a way for the exchange to regain a footing in the country following criminal complaints last year.

article-image

Blockworks exclusive art by Axel Rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Binance is seeking to re-establish itself in Thailand and is soliciting the help of local business Gulf Energy Development Public Company
  • A subsidiary of the Gulf Energy company, Gulf Innova, was established last month to focus on digital asset and blockchain infrastructure development within the kingdom

The world’s largest crypto exchange by trade volume, Binance, is looking to regain a foothold in Thailand after partnering with a local business to set up a crypto exchange within the kingdom.

In a letter to the Thai Stock Exchange on Monday, Binance’s partner, Gulf Innova Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Gulf Energy Development Public Company announced it had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the leading crypto exchange.

Owned by Thai billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi, Gulf Energy is a holding company with a portfolio of electricity, steam and chilled water generating projects. Gulf Innova was formed under the holding company last month in a move that will see Innova focused on digital asset infrastructure development.

“The Company’s partnership with Binance will help Thailand advance its development of digital assets and blockchain infrastructure,” Gulf said in its letter.

Binance’s bid at a partnership with a local Thai business can be viewed as a means for the exchange to regain a footing in the country after being rocked by criminal complaints last year from Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission following allegations of operating without an appropriate license.

Gulf said it would use its “unparalleled network of local corporates from real sector and the financial sector” while Binance would bring its exchange technology.

“This partnership is aligned with the company’s policy to expand its business and strengthen its digital infrastructure ventures while providing further opportunities for the company to expand into other digital asset-related initiatives in the future,” Gulf said.

Last month, Binance was approved for a license-in-principle in Bahrain as the exchange looks to expand its footprint in the Middle East. That followed the withdrawal of a license application in Singapore, which the company said was due to its acquisition of a regulated exchange in the city-state, which rendered its prior application redundant.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

kamino cover.jpg

Research

Kamino has solidified its position as the leading money market on Solana and is emerging as a DeFi bluechip. Although DeFi competition is fierce, Kamino has kept iterating on its product to provide the best-in-class UX, paired with a robust risk management framework and battle-tested infrastructure. Given the rollout of Kamino Lend V2, the protocol may scale aggressively over the coming months, penetrating previously untapped markets in Solana DeFi.

article-image

Also in the tokenized fund space, Franklin Templeton launches on Base and Securitize hits $1 billion in tokenized RWA onchain

article-image

It turns out that bitcoin never actually hit an all-time high in March. Thanks a lot, inflation.

article-image

Spire, Citrea and Nillion also announced raises this week

article-image

The latest recipient of an SEC Wells notice is a Web3 gaming company

article-image

Thursday’s selloff was led by tech stocks, triggered by disappointing outlooks from giants Meta and Microsoft

article-image

Historically, positive returns have been a bit more of a toss-up during the year’s 11th month