Thai agency in charge of securities regulation has reportedly authorized – Zipmex – the Asia-Pacific crypto-fiat trading firm, with a greatly desired crypto assets exchange license. 

Specifically, on January 20th, the Ministry of Finance of Thailand, along with the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), have jointly granted Zipmex the regulatory greenlight with the license – which comes with heavy regulatory demands obtainee needs to comply with. 

To get ahold of the license, exchanges must provide evidences of their vigorous finances – with shareholder equity needs to reach the minimum milestone of 50 million baht (~$1.65 million) – along with IT and cyber security networks satisfy the preset high standards. 

Under Thai law, crypto assets operators that have have secured required licenses will be viewed as financial institutions, and is required to be in compliance with Anti Money Laundering reporting obligations. 

Approximately 30 crypto exchanges have submitted papers to obtain the license, 2 of whom have been denied, due to the lack of Know Your Customer and security measures.

The license is revealed as one of the initiatives of the nation’s regulatory framework for digital assets, which resulted in the release of Thailand’s first legal initial coin offering (ICO) in October last year. 

Zipmex announced that Dr. Sahit Limpongpan – ex-chairman of Stock Exchange Thailand – Professor Dr. Chaiya Yimwilai, VP to the Thai Deputy Prime Minister, have joined the firm’s advisory board.