Nikolas Sargeant
Recent studies show that Thai traders prefer digital assets to traditional stock options. Thailand is an important player in the cryptocurrency scene in Asia. This is because of high adoption rates, increased digital asset trading volume, favorable regulations, and a thriving ecosystem of digital services in the country.
Traders in Thailand Embrace Digital Assets in Droves
According to HashKey's report, in 2023, Bitkub had the largest market share, with 77.04% of the total trading volume. Bitazza and Satang had market shares of 21.60% and 1.36%, respectively. It's important to note that Satang was acquired by KBANK in 2023 and was rebranded as Orbix.
Meanwhile, Thailand holds the tenth position on Chainalysis' Crypto Adoption Index, factoring in user engagement across centralized exchanges, peer-to-peer trading, and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols in its comprehensive assessment.
With over 2.94 million user accounts, digital asset exchanges in Thailand surpass 4.27% of the population, outpacing the stock market with more than half the 5.5 million accounts. Binance in Thailand saw an average of 116,877 monthly visits from January to November 2023, reaching a peak of 303,057 in January 2023.
Between September 2020 and August 2023, Thailand recorded over 797,931 downloads of MetaMask wallets, with the highest peak of 88,539 downloads in November 2021. This surge is likely attributed to the rising popularity of GameFi and the metaverse during that period.
Thailand's DEX and NFT Industries Defy Conventional Trends
In the bullish 2021 market, DEX platforms like PancakeSwap averaged 35,000 monthly visits, but these declined during the bear market. The NFT sector also dipped. In 2022, Opensea saw an average of 48,000 monthly visits from Thailand, peaking at 65,000 in July, but traffic subsided during the bear market.
Despite fluctuations, Sanjay Popli, CEO of Cryptomind, remains optimistic. Thai financial institutions' adoption of Web3 technologies signals broader acceptance of blockchain and crypto. With a balanced regulatory framework, Thailand is emerging as a global crypto and blockchain leader.
Traditional financial institutions in Thailand, including Siam Commercial Bank, are actively exploring crypto opportunities. Srettha Thavisin, a real estate developer turned Prime Minister, highlights a nationwide 'airdrop' in his political campaign, offering 10,000 Thai Baht ($300) to citizens above 16, to be spent within a four-kilometer radius of their residence.
