The number of retail cryptocurrency investors in Thailand has steadily increased in April after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allowed the country’s largest digital exchange Bitkub to resume accepting new accounts. Bitkub reported a surge of up to 24,000 new cryptocurrency trader accounts in the first week of the month.
The increase in the number of new trading accounts coincides with the surge in Bitcoin (BTC) price surpassing the 2 million baht milestone three months after it reached the 1 million mark in January this year. Different altcoins like Ether (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC) also increased in price alongside Bitcoin in the second week of April.
Bitkub’s resumption after their two-month suspension by the SEC occurred simultaneously with the increase of crypto prices which resulted in the significant increase of new trading accounts.
During the suspension which was ordered by the SEC after they deemed Bitkub’s system insufficient in handling its current trading volume, Bitkub fixed their system to accommodate a larger number of clients and transactions efficiently.
In addition, Bitkub improved its know-your-customer (KYC) protocol which allows traders to verify their identity as per the SEC’s statement regarding their lack of adequate service.
On April 20, Bitkub reported in their social media accounts that there is a surge in the number of applicants who want to open a trading account. The number of accounts handled by Bitkub had exceeded the 1 million mark including the 100,000 pending accounts waiting for identity verification. Crypto-related social media groups also saw a significant increase in the number of new members according to a survey conducted by Bangkok Post.
Additionally, more people have shown interest in participating in the SEC’s Crypto 101 Fundamentals course posted on their Facebook page. Two episodes from the crash course have already been posted and it reportedly accumulated around 35,000 views as of April 15.
Thai investors are looking for ways to earn more crypto and some of the cryptocurrency traders in social media suggested creating accounts with foreign exchange so their credit cards will be allowed as a payment method.
Cryptocurrency platforms are quick to warn people about the risks of using credit cards as their capital. Poramin Insom, director of Satang corporation one of Thailand’s leading cryptocurrency exchange platforms, encouraged traders not to risk the higher interest rate of credit cards to invest in crypto since cryptocurrencies are highly volatile. He said ‘Bitcoin price can fall from $62,000 to $52,000 in just a few days. You should buy those with the money you already have and can lose.’