Last week Thailand’s Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said the government plans to issue Baht 5 billion ($148m) in government bonds directly to the public by the end of the fiscal year (September 30). The initial issuance will be treated as a sandbox project and tradable on a digital bond platform, perhaps the one announced earlier this month by the SEC.
“We will enable retail investors to participate, regardless of their financial standing,” said Minister Pichai, according to The Nation.
“They can invest any amount, buying and selling directly on the platform, bypassing traditional bank counters. Numerous platforms are available, and with private sector involvement, we anticipate lower management costs, enabling investments from as little as 1,000 baht.”
However, this isn’t the first time the Public Debt Management Office has used blockchain. Five years ago it ran a far smaller pilot of around $6 million using the KTB wallet of State owned Krunghthai Bank.
The hope is that a larger pool of investors will increase the liquidity of the bonds.
Additionally, the minister said the government was considering merging its Securities Act with its Digital Assets Act.
Stablecoin sandbox trials
The country has various digital asset and blockchain initiative in progress, including a digital asset sandbox. It’s planning a sandbox issuance of a Thai Baht stablecoin in Phuket for use by tourists. This will be backed by government bonds. Given the stablecoin launch date is in October, it makes sense the backing might use the tokenized government bonds, which should be issued by then. (Dinarian Note: This more than likely involves the Velo Protocol!)
Meanwhile, last November SCB 10X, the fintech arm of SCBX Group, tested a Thai Baht stablecoin THBX in collaboration with Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) and technology partners. That was also targeting tourists visiting for the Ethereum Devcon event. It was part of a sandbox pilot overseen by the Bank of Thailand and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
