Country Group Holdings Plc (CGH) has agreed to buy a 25% stake in Cryptomind Group, a digital asset advisory and investment business, to penetrate that market and offer new forms of investment and finance technologies, says Tommy Taechaubol, chief executive of CGH.
CGH expects its customers will be able to trade cryptocurrencies through an application powered by its subsidiary, Country Group Securities (CGS), from the beginning of next year, he said.
CGH is the second securities group after Seamico Securities Plc (Zmico) to enter the digital asset industry. SE Digital, Zmico's subsidiary, obtained approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to fully operate in Thailand as an initial coin offering portal last year.
Mr Tommy said CGH is buying a 25% stake in Cryptomind Group -- the country's first digital asset management company -- while it applies for a cryptocurrency fund licence from the SEC.
Cryptomind has a strong management team with expertise in investment and management of digital assets, he said.
The company is also active in the digital community as it is working on several projects with foreign digital exchanges and has a strong network online with more than 500,000 followers, said Mr Tommy.
Cryptomind aims to raise its assets under management to 500 million baht in the first year of operations with a focus on digital products such as the DeFi Yield fund, which it claims provides low-risk investment with high returns from decentralised finance technologies.
Cryptomind wants to provide advice and select the top 20 crypto coins to be traded on CGS's trading application next year.
"We are not interested in setting up a digital exchange. We aim to be a broker and provide a comprehensive platform that can accommodate the trade of all investment products, including stocks, derivatives, futures contracts and mutual funds," he said.
"Cryptocurrencies and foreign stocks are expected to be included on the platform next year."
Mr Tommy said foreign digital exchanges offer high trading leverage of around 125 times with slim premiums on coins, and offer more products than local digital exchanges, which have a limited range and charge higher premiums on coins.
CGS plans to attract customers with lower premiums and offer the world's top 20 coins to investors.
"We will be the first securities firm to allow traditional investors to trade crypto without requiring them to open new accounts," he said.
"They will have access to all types of investment products on the same application."
Mr Tommy said CGH is also studying the feasibility of launching a cryptocurrency fund with Cryptomind and MFC Asset Management (MFC), a CGH asset management subsidiary that will serve as a sales channel.
However, Cryptomind needs to first apply for a cryptocurrency fund licence from the SEC, a process that can take considerable time to complete.
CGS has grown quickly in recent years, with its equity brokerage revenues increasing by 77% and derivatives brokerage revenues gaining by 62% year-on-year.
The company expects revenue growth to remain strong going forward with new customers increasing by roughly 20% per year.