Thai power producer Gulf Energy Development Pcl has said it expects to finalize a joint venture (JV) with the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, in the second quarter this year.
According to Gulf chief financial officer Yupapin Wangviwat, the JV is expected to take about six months to obtain the license for trading and then other features would follow.
Cryptocurrency trading has exploded in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, with transactions reaching 251 billion baht (US$7.57 billion) in November, prompting authorities to introduce regulations.
Yupapin noted that the Gulf-Binance crypto exchange would have to comply with regulations.
Last year, Thailand’s securities watchdog filed a criminal complaint against Binance for operating without a digital asset license.
The move into crypto comes from its owner and CEO Sarath Ratanavadi’s plans to expand into digital infrastructure, which took shape last year when it increased its ownership of InTouch Holdings Pcl to 42% in a 48 billion baht deal.
InTouch owns the country’s largest mobile operator, AIS.
On Thursday, Gulf established a separate JV with Singapore Telecommunications and AIS to build data centers.
Yupapin said initial plans include 20 to 40-megawatts (MW) of data centers in Thailand, with an estimated cost of up to US$400 million. (NNT)
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