Satang Corporation to launch trading platform

Satang Corporation, a local digital asset exchange operator, plans expand its business into an integrated system for digital asset trade and transactions along with registering its own securities token offering (STO) in the US.

The company has been operating on the Thai Digital Asset Exchange (TDAX) and is one of six businesses seeking licences to operate as digital asset exchanges from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

TDAX will be renamed as Satang Pro Exchange in the near future, said Poramin Insom, chief executive and co-founder of Satang Corporation.

Apart from the digital asset exchange business, Satang Corporation plans to enter two new businesses, namely Satang Wallet, an e-wallet app linked with the PromptPay fund transfers, and Satang Shop, which can convert digital currencies into physical products.

Customer can use cryptocurrencies through e-wallets for both investment and daily payments, with the first phase being converting digital currencies into baht, said Mr Poramin.

The company also plans to launch an STO in next year’s first quarter.

“We have already consulted with the SEC on STO fundraising. The market regulator has told us a company can launch an STO in Thailand because the country still has no law to regulate this new asset and it is not illegal as there is no legal jurisdiction covering this asset,” he said.

Satang Corporation’s STO will be registered with the US’s SEC, with the funds raised to be used for investing in new technologies and as working capital.

The STO token will be listed on tZERO, a security token exchange owned by e-commerce company Overstock. The STO will offer about 10% of the company’s paid-up capital of 50 million baht.

Mr Poramin said an STO is different from an initial coin offering (ICO), but similar to investment in common stocks. Investors will have ownership rights and will receive dividends from investment, he said.

The company is also studying the possibility of launching a “stable coin”, which will use the baht as the base ratio of conversion, said Mr Poramin. The asset is being discussed with the Bank of Thailand.

“In my view, ICOs are quite out-of-date because of the failures of many projects. Investors should prefer STOs as they will have ownership in companies issuing STOs and receive dividend payments simultaneously,” he said.

STOs, stable coins, and asset-backed tokens are expected to garner more popularity in the future as these investment products are more secure than existing cryptocurrencies, said Mr Poramin.

Year-to-date fundraising from global STOs is logged at US$1-2 billion (33-66 billion baht), he said.