Thailand’s second-largest bank by assets, Kasikornbank, announced the launch of Orbix Custodian, the country's first licensed digital asset custodian. The license was granted by the Ministry of Finance and will be supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Digital Asset Custodian License
The Orbix Custodian license was granted on September 13 but announced two weeks later. The business is expected to begin operations in early 2025.
Involvement in Digital Assets
The launch of the custody service is the latest move Kasikornbank has made in the crypto space. President Pipit Aneaknithi said that this will lay a strong foundation for further development of digital financial infrastructure, promoting Thailand as a digital economy hub and advancing the country's digital industry in response to government policy. Kasikornbank owns Orbix Custodian through its digital-focused subsidiary Unita Capital, which also manages Orbix Invest and Orbix Technology. The Orbix Trade platform, formerly known as Satang, is a cryptocurrency exchange that was acquired by Unita Capital in October 2023. Orbix Technology provides blockchain infrastructure services, inherited from Satang. In early September, this division launched the Q-Bond project, issuing bonds worth 500 million baht ($15.4 million) on the Quarix blockchain with a fixed interest rate of 2.38% and a one-year maturity. KBank and state-owned oil and gas company PTT partnered in the issue.
Participation in AI Projects
In addition to its digital asset operations, KBank subsidiary Kasikorn Business Technology Group (KBTG) joined AI Singapore and Google Research to develop large language models (LLMs) in Southeast Asia within Project SEALD (Southeast Asian Languages in One Network Data). The project was launched in March, and KBTG's participation was announced on September 24. The partners aim to create LLMs in Thai, Indonesian, Tamil, Filipino, and Burmese languages.
Kasikornbank continues to actively develop its digital infrastructure and engage in cutting-edge technology projects, establishing itself as a leader in digital assets and artificial intelligence in Thailand.
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