The longest-running bank of Thailand – Siam Commercial Bank – has reportedly finalized the acquisition of $536.7-million worth of shares of a top-tier crypto exchange. 

Specifically, Siam Commercial Bank’s SCB X Group is reportedly expected to complete the purchase of a 51% stake in Thai-headquartered crypto exchange Bitkub, paying 17.85 billion baht (approximately $536.7 million) by Q2 of next year. 

The exchange reportedly revealed that the acquisition is pending regulatory greenlight from the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as well as the nation’s central bank.

Arthit Nanthawittaya, Head of Siam Commercial Bank, reportedly disclosed that the decision that led to the purchase was fueled by the development of businesses across the virtual asset sphere throughout the past two years and the expected value in the long term.

The firm reportedly hinted at its target of reinforcing the growing digital asset ecosystem in the nation.

“Bitkub has reached the point where we have become an important structure in Thailand’s future economy. Bitkub is no longer just a startup. It is becoming necessary infrastructure for the financial industry 3.0 in Thailand.” Jirayut Srupsrisopa, founder and Head of Bitkub. 

Bitkub is reportedly among the limited crypto exchange platforms in Thailand functioning with the regulatory greenlight from the local SEC. Following the rollout of the revised crypto regulations in November last year, the financial regulator ordered the exchange to tem[porarily halt services and resolve issues, in terms of outages throughout periods of high demand. 

Regulators in Thailand have reportedly generated a variety of guidelines for individual crypto traders and businesses. In June, members of the SEC introduced a notice that Thai exchanges were prohibited from dealing with meme-based tokens, fan-based tokens, non fungible tokens (NFTs) and exchange-issued tokens.