Thailand warns over DeFi; India green lights cryptos | The Daily Forkast

Transcript

Welcome to The Daily Forkast, June 1st, 2021. I’m Angie Lau, Editor-in-Chief of Forkast.News. Let’s get you up to speed, from Asia to the world.

We are seeing signs of the first regulatory clampdown on DeFi in Asia. Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission says digital token issuance over in the world of decentralized finance or DeFi must be licensed under local regulations.

A new DeFi farming platform called TukTuk Finance launched on Thai-based blockchain Bitkub chain, and this had regulators worried, because, as local media reports, the platform’s native token TUK soared to several hundred U.S. dollars, and then it dumped — tanking down to just a dollar in a matter of minutes.

With rising cases of flash loan exploits happening around DeFi in recent days, it was just a matter of time before regulators got involved, and it looks like Thailand broke the ice. But the question still remains how will authorities regulate a decentralized ecosystem? Watching this one closely.

Over in India, an upbeat turn of events for investors as the nation’s central bank gives banks the green light on crypto. The Reserve Bank of India’s 2018 ban prohibiting banks from dealing with crypto was actually overturned last year by the nation’s Supreme Court. But lately, a lot of customers were told that their accounts would be closed if they continued trading crypto.

Well, now the RBI has clarified that that ban no longer exists and #IndiaWantsCrypto took off like a rocket on social media.

“Definitely a welcomed move by the Reserve Bank of India, which is like the best thing. It’s just that they too long [of a] time to acknowledge this to the banks. At least the banks can no more state that this particular notice is that so they’re not providing account. But now it only depends on the legal and compliance team at the banks to allow the cryptocurrency exchanges and its customers to whom they were to provide the services.”

Even with that green light, investors aren’t breathing easy yet. There’s more legislation on the table that could prohibit crypto trading in the nation. But according to the local industry, the government has shifted its stance from ban to regulation.

All right. Bitcoin ending the day up almost 3%, nudging towards US$37,000 at 4:00 pm local Hong Kong time, at the end of the Asian trading day.

And in the top ten for cryptocurrencies — the best performers amid a swath of green across the board were Polkadot up almost 10% and Dogecoin up almost 8.5%.

And finally, Singapore’s DBS Bank is to offer its first ever security token. The US$11 million US dollar digital bond will be available via the bank’s digital exchange platform. Now, the idea could prove attractive for the average investor as tokenization allows the bond to be issued and traded in much smaller quantities than traditional bonds.

“Not everybody wants to put so much money in a single product. So I actually think this is a great development. I think it will continue to showcase what blockchain can do for the broader investment industry — not just bonds, but also other investments types.”

And for companies, use of platforms like the DBS exchange can actually lower costs when they are seeking to raise capital. All part of the bank’s strategy to tap into the growing trend of asset tokenization, something that could provide a model for a lot more to follow.

And that’s The Daily Forkast from our vantage point right here in Asia. For more, visit Forkast.News. I’m Editor-in-Chief Angie Until the next time.