The second-richest person in Thailand, who made his money in the power generation sector, wants to increase the amount of money his company invests in blockchain ecosystems.
The CEO of Gulf Energy Development Pcl, Sarath Ratanavadi, wants to diversify the revenue streams of his business by establishing a digital asset exchange in collaboration with Binance Holdings Ltd, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume.
The announcement coincides with a very severe bear market in cryptocurrencies, in which bitcoin has so far lost up to 75% of its value and the vast majority of other cryptocurrencies have lost more than 90%.
Additionally, the regulatory environment is still in complete flux as the Securities and Exchange Commission hires a large number of new employees in preparation for what may turn out to be a massive purge of the entire cryptocurrency industry.
A Bloomberg article claims that Thailand’s cryptocurrency industry is going through a severe downturn of its own. The number of cryptocurrency-related trading accounts in the nation dropped to 260,000 in July from a peak of almost 700,000 in December, and the trading volume of cryptocurrencies on Thailand’s authorized exchanges fell to 54 billion baht ($1.5 billion) in July, a figure that has not been seen since January 2021.
Sarath is unfazed, though, and is prepared to increase his stake in the cryptocurrency market. The billionaire said during an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday:
“Digital assets and blockchain technology platforms will be the key drivers for the company’s strongest returns, and our aim is to become the country’s market leader. Recent issues involve individual cases, with the overall market still being sound and having high potential.”
Not just blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure are important to Sarath. Along with increasing its investments in solar and wind energy projects, his Gulf Energy company also bought a sizable stake in the holding company of Thailand’s largest wireless services and satellite provider.
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