TL;DR Breakdown
- Thailand’s Gulf Energy to seal crypto JV with Binance in Q2.
- Gulf-Binance crypto exchange would be required to follow the guidelines to operate.
Thailand’s largest power producer Gulf Energy Development PCL and Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange company, plan to build a joint venture by the end of the second quarter of this year.
According to Gulf chief financial officer Yupakin Wangviwat, the joint venture will be formed when the business plan and shareholder agreements with Binance are finalized. It is anticipated that the joint venture will require a trading license that shall be acquired within a period of six months, followed by added features.
Gulf Energy bought 42% interest in InTouch Holdings PCL
The billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi who is the CEO of Gulf Energy bought 42% interest in InTouch Holdings Pcl which was bought for a whopping 48 billion baht last year to expand the company’s digital infrastructure business.
Also, this partnership is another piece of evidence that is based on the “rapid growth” of Thailand’s digital infrastructure in the next few years. The operator of the country’s largest mobile network, AIS, is operated by InTouch.
With the acquisition of 48 billion baht last year, InTouch Holdings Pcl increased its share of the company from 32% to 42% to support CEO Sarath Ratanavadi’s plans to expand its digital infrastructure.
A new data center development business was built on Thursday by Gulf. Singapore Telecommunications, (STEL.SI) and the Asian Infrastructure Investments (AIS).
The cryptocurrency exchange Gulf-Binance must conform to Thailand regulations
For Yupapin, Gulf-Binance may need to meet standards in order to operate. Binance is accused of operating without a digital asset license by the Thai securities commission last year, leading to a criminal complaint filed against the company.
Initially, Thai data centers will use between 20 and 40 megawatts (MW) of energy and cost $ 400 million. Yupapin said the long-term goal of 100 MW is being discussed as demand grows.
Gulf Energy has gained a reputation for successfully negotiating major, most recent power contracts reaching 5.3 gigatonnes in 2013.
The 12.4 billion IPO in 2017 pushed Sarath to fifth place in the Forbes list of the richest people in Thailand, making him the richest man in Thailand for the first time. Gulf has partnered with the government on a $ 1.3 billion LNG project and a $ 927 million container area to expand its infrastructure portfolio.
