In a landscape where digital assets are gaining traction, Gulf Binance has emerged as a new player among the 17 licensed exchange and broker operators in Thailand.
Backed by the world's largest crypto exchange by volume, the operator of the Binance TH platform set an aggressive target to become a leader in the thriving cryptocurrency sector within two years following its public debut in January 2024.
Nirun Fuwattananukul, chief executive of Gulf Binance, maintains the company has all the pieces of the puzzle in place to claim the top spot in Thailand as the digital asset market heats up.
"I'm very confident over the next two years we will be the No.1 player in Thailand. There is no question of that," said Mr Nirun in an interview with the Bangkok Post.
"Based on our internal tracking, we are roughly between third and fifth place now, and by the end of the year, we want to be No.2."
A joint venture between Binance Capital Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Binance, and Gulf Innova Co Ltd, which is 100% owned by SET-listed Gulf Energy Development, Gulf Binance has obtained four licences to operate as a digital asset exchange and digital asset broker from the Finance Ministry and is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Since its launch, Binance TH boasts the highest number of tokens (120) traded on an exchange. Another 10 tokens were being added at the time of the interview.
He said the company is on track to have a selection of 200 coins by year-end.
MAJOR STRATEGIES
To cash in on Thailand's digital future, Gulf Binance's operations are based on five strategic pillars: continuous platform enhancement; community building; driving adoption through education; a user-focused approach; and unwavering regulatory compliance.
According to Chainalysis, Thailand ranks 10th globally in terms of crypto adoption, with 21.9% of Thais embracing cryptocurrencies, nearly double the global average.
Mr Nirun said there are three main strategies to make the company the market leader.
"The first is having the tokens that people want. The second involves the quality of the platform," he said.
"Binance already has a good platform and processes the largest volume in the world by far. When we localise it, we're going to make it even better and more convenient, especially when compared with the competitors."
The third strategy covers marketing and education to raise public awareness about cryptocurrencies in Thailand, said Mr Nirun.
"We pride ourselves on having a very good customer service team here," he said. "Achieving regulatory compliance is also vital to increase confidence among users, as well as collaborating with other players to promote digital literacy and drive greater crypto adoption in Thailand."
Gulf Binance has roughly 100,000 customers at present and wants to have 900,000 by year-end, said Mr Nirun.
The profile of a typical Binance TH user is predominantly male and aged between 35-40, he said.
"There are so many people who invest in stocks and bonds, but haven't invested in crypto. We want to expand the market by educating more people to attract new users," said Mr Nirun.
Binance TH boasts 120 tokens traded on an exchange, the most in the market.
PRICE CONSOLIDATION
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the halving of Bitcoin on April 19 led to a price slump.
On May 1, the Bitcoin price fell sharply to US$56,527, the lowest level in about two months and a significant dip from the record of almost $74,000 in March this year.
"The public expected a big price jump after the halving," he said. "The supply reduction was priced in way before the event, with prices rising since around November or December of last year."
That price increase was partly driven by the launch of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the US in January 2024. Within 12 days of their launch, Bitcoin prices fell 14% before rising 7% over the subsequent seven-day period.
"If you look at past trends, you see about six months after halving, the market will try to consolidate. The halving is positive in the long term," said Mr Nirun.
Many researchers have talked of prices reaching $100,000-150,000 in 1-3 years, he said.
"We 're looking at a peak in December 2025. From now until December 2025, people expect a bull trend with more volatility as prices move up and down," said Mr Nirun.
"Once the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, it will be positive from a monetary policy and liquidity point of view. That will boost asset prices in general, not just Bitcoin."
Investors should monitor geopolitics and increasingly uncertain regulations because these factors affect asset prices, he said.
DIVERSE PORTFOLIO
As one of Thailand's biggest power producers, Gulf announced its partnership with Binance in January 2022. The project by chief executive Sarath Ratanavadi is an effort to diversify into new businesses.
Gulf has been deepening investments in telecom through the purchase of stakes in Singtel-backed InTouch, as well as its wireless unit Advanced Info Service (AIS) in 2021 and taking over satellite operator Thaicom in 2022.
Together with AIS and Krungthai Bank, Gulf has applied for a virtual bank licence. Gulf also recently raised its holding in Kasikornbank to become the 14th-largest shareholder in one of Thailand's largest banks.
"Digital assets and cryptocurrency form a core portion of the new economy, which have been accepted by the public for years," Mr Sarath said at a joint conference held with Binance chief executive Richard Teng in Bangkok recently, hinting that the two companies could deepen their business partnership in the future.
Mr Nirun said Binance discussed the business with several potential partners in Thailand.
"In the end, I think it was the level of conviction we got from Gulf about entering the digital asset space and its vision for creating an infrastructure. That's going to make a difference," he said.
Another area where the two parties could deepen their cooperation is the issuance of electricity tokens, said Mr Nirun.
PROMINENT FEATURES
After receiving its exchange licence, Binance TH established its orderbook to allow Thai users to buy and sell digital assets using baht pairs.
A local matching engine matches the orders of users and arranges opposing orders by leveraging Binance's global platform.
The broker licence enables Binance TH to provide crypto-to-crypto trading pairs and USDT (tethering) pairs for Thai users. The licence facilitates the platform's integration with the global exchange to increase liquidity and the diversity of global digital assets, he said.
Binance TH integrated its orderbook with Binance Kazakhstan, a regulated digital asset platform in Kazakhstan supervised by the Astana Financial Services Authority.
One feature Binance TH offers is price alerts, which notify users of significant price fluctuations, enabling them to seize market opportunities swiftly, said Mr Nirun.
The portfolio tracking tool allows users to monitor the performance of their assets, allowing more informed investment decisions, he said.
In addition, the "whitelist function" is a protective measure that restricts withdrawals to addresses specified by the user, which was adopted to enhance the security framework.
Binance TH is the only regulated Thai digital asset exchange to support both the national digital ID and ThaID, said Mr Nirun.
