Crypto sector mulls implications of appointment of new Thai PM
With Thailand just having elected its youngest-ever Prime Minister (PM), speculation has arisen within the crypto sector as to whether the new appointee will be bullish where digital assets are concerned.
On Sunday, 37-year-old Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sworn in as the Southeast Asian country’s Prime Minister, having received two-thirds of the votes in a House of Representatives ballot on Friday.
On Aug. 18, a pseudonymous crypto commentator, @martypartymusic, told his 109,000 followers on X that Shinawatra’s appointment was positive for crypto. He wrote:
”She is a crypto bull. Her father was a crypto bull. IMO: Thailand could be next to adopt crypto as legal tender. Let’s watch it play out."
Digital wallet program
Shinawatra has committed to continuing a similar approach to policy as followed by her predecessor, Srettha Thavisin. That will include an emphasis on pursuing economic reform and accommodating economic stimulus measures.
One crypto-related measure introduced by her predecessor is the digital wallet handout project. According to Nikkei Asia, the scheme has been burdened with both legal and budgetary challenges. Kasit Piromya, a former Thai Foreign Minister, is understood to have said that Shinawatra would be committing “political suicide” if she continues to drive that project forward.
It’s understood that she has indicated that the government will continue with the project but that it plans to take steps to ensure that the program can proceed in a financially sustainable way.
Shinawatra’s Pheu Thai Party had first floated the notion of giving 10,000 baht in digital assets, at the time valued at $300, in April 2023, to Thai citizens above the age of 16. Further moves were made to progress that $14 billion project earlier this year.
While insiders have reported that Shinawatra has been non-committal about the digital wallet project, she has been quoted as stating previously that “the digital wallet scheme is a project we intend to use as a major economic stimulus.”
As various commentators speculate on her likely course of action, the reality is that these matters will remain unclear until such time as she appoints a cabinet and announces relevant policies.
Tanawat Sutunthivorakoon, the CEO of Thai digital asset management platform Bitazza Thailand, expressed the view that this change in leadership will have very little impact on the development of digital asset regulation in the Southeast Asian country.
Regulatory development
The country has seen a number of crypto-positive developments over recent months. Back in March, the country’s tax authority approved a crypto income tax exemption in an effort to incentivize crypto-based fundraising. The authorities had already made crypto trading VAT-free the previous month.
Earlier this month, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced a digital asset regulatory sandbox in an effort to foster innovation relative to the digital assets sector.
The SEC allowed institutional investors in Thailand to access U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) products. In June, the regulator followed up by approving the country’s first spot Bitcoin ETF.
