Bangkok Billionaire Taps Binance For New Crypto Exchange

Thai billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi’s has entered into a partnership with Binance to set up a local crypto exchange in the country.

Binance Helps Build Thai Crypto Exchange

A Thai billionaire and Binance want to start a new crypto exchange.

In a letter to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Monday, the Gulf Innova Company announced that it had entered into a partnership with leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The pair state that they will work together to “jointly study avenues for the development of digital asset exchange and related business in Thailand.”

The Gulf Innova Company is a subsidiary of Gulf Energy Development PCL, a Thailand-based company primarily engaged in the energy sector. The firm is owned by self-made billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi, who, according to Forbes, has a current net worth of $12.9 billion.

Last month, the Gulf Innova subsidiary was set up for the company to enter into the digital infrastructure industry. In the memorandum announcing its cooperation with Binance, Gulf Innova explained its reasoning for the move, stating:

“The company foresees rapid growth in digital infrastructure in Thailand as the economy increasingly becomes driven by innovation and technology, with digital assets and related technology playing a prominent role in improving efficiency of financial infrastructure in the country to meet the increasing demand of Thai people.”

For Binance, the partnership with Gulf Innova will help the exchange find a foothold in Thailand after regulatory issues last summer. In July, the Securities and Exchange Commission in Thailand charged Binance for operating an unlawful exchange in the country. By August, Binance had stopped serving customers in Thailand, telling the Bangkok Post, “Binance does not currently have exchange operations in Thailand, nor do we actively solicit Thai users.”

Binance is currently the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, facilitating over $12 billion of transactions over the past 24 hours. The company’s CEO Changpeng Zhao is estimated to be one of the wealthiest people in the world, with a net worth of over $92.7 billion.