The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that Southeast Asia Digital Exchange Co Ltd (SEADEX) is the latest company seeking a licence to operate its digital exchange business.
The market regulator examined SEADEX's business operations and found that the company had been operating a digital exchange business before the royal decree on digital assets came into force.
SEADEX applied for an operating licence before Aug 14, the stipulated deadline for application submission.
The SEC remains in the assessment process to evaluate the qualifications of applicants seeking licences to operate digital asset businesses.
If an applicant is qualified, the SEC will forward the request to the Finance Ministry to issue an operating licence.
There is no limit on the number of operating licences.
The SEC reiterated that the public should be cautious when being asked to trade digital assets, as there have been cases where digital assets were used as a guise to commit fraud.
The public should check whether the operator is on the list of the SEC's digital asset applicants.
The SEC has yet to issued any permissions for sales of digital tokens or initial coin offerings.
Earlier, the SEC revealed the names of seven businesses seeking licences to operate digital asset businesses.
As the SEC is still assessing the applications, these seven businesses are allowed to operate digital asset businesses because they submitted their requests within 90 days after the digital asset royal decree took effect on May 14.
The five businesses seeking licences to operate as digital asset exchanges are Bitcoin Co Ltd (bx.in.th); Bitkub Online Co Ltd (bitkub.com); Cash2Coins Co Ltd (cash2coins.com); Satang Corporation Co Ltd (tdax.com); and Coin Asset Co Ltd (coinasset.co.th).
The two businesses seeking licences to operate as digital asset dealers are Coins TH Co (coins.co.th) and Digital Coin Co Ltd (thaiwm.com).
The royal decree on digital asset businesses went into effect on May 14. The new legislation was enacted to regulate digital asset offerings and businesses undertaking digital-asset-related activities.
Pursuant to the royal decree, digital assets cover cryptocurrencies, digital tokens and any other electronic data unit, as specified by the SEC.