Thailand’s Parliament Picked a Pro-Crypto Prime Minister. In 2021, Srettha Thavisin’s previous business invested in the cryptocurrency company XSpring Capital and created its token simultaneously.
The government of that country has chosen Srettha Thavisin, the candidate put forward by the Pheu Thai Party, to succeed Yingluck Shinawatra as the Prime Minister of Thailand.
. The 61-year-old guy has engaged with the cryptocurrency business because the company he was in charge of was an active investor in the digital asset investment management firm XSpring Capital. XSpring Capital is a company that manages investments in digital assets.
Throughout the years, Thailand has displayed a significant reluctance about the best way to approach the sector; however, this could change under the administration of the current leader.
A Political Newbie but not a Crypto Newbie
Earlier this week, elections were held to determine who would succeed Prayuth Chan-ocha as Prime Minister of Thailand, and Thavisin emerged victorious. He garnered 482 votes out of a potential 747 votes during the election. For him to take office formally, King Maha Vajiralongkorn needs to sign a document he has prepared. After receiving the majority of the votes, Thavisin made the following statement:
“Being selected as Thailand’s 30th Prime Minister is a huge honour.
I want to thank everyone in Thailand who participated in today’s vote, including coalition parties. Honourable members of the House of Representatives. And senators. I commit to working as hard as possible to fulfil my responsibilities and improve the lives of Thai people.
Srettha Thavisin, from Reuters’s original reporting.
It is important to highlight the fact that Thavisin does not have a great deal of experience working in the political arena. His background is in business, where he served as the former CEO of the massive real estate company Sansiri. He knows much about Bitcoin because his company helped raise $225 million for XSpring Capital, which manages digital assets.
As a real estate company, we know that traditional financing forms are undergoing significant change, and we believe that shortly. There will be a need to eliminate intermediaries between customer and project financing. When asked about the investment. Thavisin said it was a good fit for the company’s long-term goal of keeping innovation on the cutting edge in all business areas.
After that, Sansiri spent $45 million to acquire a 15% interest in XSpring Capital and began distributing its digital currency. Which is referred to as SiriHub Token.
Another intriguing fact is that the Pheu Thai Party is the party that nominated Thavisin. The position of Prime Minister has pledged to provide 2,850.00 baht (or 10,000 baht) to every Thai person over 16 if it successfully wins the general election in May. The organization came in second place, receiving 28% of the vote, while Move Forward came out on top, receiving 38%.
Thailand’s Crypto Ecosystem
The industry of cryptocurrencies did not originally pique the interest of the local administration, which instead concentrated primarily on the possible introduction of a central bank digital currency, also known as a CBDC. Additionally, it intended to levy a capital gains tax of 15% on the earnings earned from digital assets’ activities.
However, throughout the past few months, Thailand has shown signs of becoming more receptive to the industry. The country has shelved its intentions to tax cryptocurrencies and is mulling over. There may be restrictions on how they might be utilized in business transactions involving money. The government has also investigated various solutions to the problem of theft involving digital assets. Stopping the operation of Meta, formerly known as Facebook, was one of the potential remedies to the problem.
Overall, it will be interesting to see if the new Prime Minister of Thailand will continue. The crypto revolution was due to his fondness for technological innovation and previous efforts. This will be something to keep an eye on.