The Hungarian Embassy and the Thai Fintech Association to jointly explore Blockchain technology

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A bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed by the Financial Technology Associations of Thailand and Hungary to facilitate the use of blockchain technology in their respective financial sectors. According to a Facebook post from the Hungarian Embassy in Bangkok, the MOU between the Thai Fintech Association (TFA) and the Hungarian Blockchain Coalition would allow the two organizations to “share experiences, best practices and explore areas potentially useful for direct cooperation .” A Bangkok Post article dated October 29 revealed that TFA President Chonladet Khemarattana stated that international cooperation is necessary to promote local financial technology because e-commerce, mobile payments and digital currencies are expanding rapidly in Thailand. In addition, he stated that 20 percent of the world’s crypto holders live in Thailand, and it was ranked ninth in the 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index released in September by analysis company Chainalysis and crypto payments business TripleA. The National Data and Economy Knowledge Center and the Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary jointly established the Hungarian Blockchain Coalition in March 2022, while the Thai Fintech Association was established as a non-profit organization in 2016 to represent the local fintech sector, including crypto exchanges. The deal was reached at the same time Thailand’s central bank and a few of its commercial banks participated in a distributed ledger transaction platform testing project in September. In addition, the Bank of Thailand stated in August that it intended to launch a pilot program for a retail CBDC by the end of 2022 on a small scale in the private sector with around 10,000 customers. Using “cash-like activities”, such as buying products or services, will be used to test the digital currency. Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also imposed certain limits on cryptos this year, banning their use as payment methods in March because they “may affect the stability of the financial system.” The SEC plans to ban crypto exchanges from offering or supporting digital asset storage services, which is another way the authority is cracking down on crypto lending platforms. In February, György Matolcsy, the governor of the Hungarian National Bank, called for a complete ban on all crypto assets and mining in the EU, stating that it “served illegal activities” and was “speculative.” This indicates that Hungary has a similarly tough attitude towards crypto.Shashank is the founder of yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist.