SCB’s Bitkub deal shows that crypto markets are becoming mainstream for banking

The Thai bank takes a step forward in its strategy to upgrade to a financial technology group.

Five years ago, Siam Commercial Bank CEO Arthid Nanthawithaya announced a plan called ‘Going upside down’, with digital transformation at its heart. Taking a majority stake in a crypto exchange, as the bank did in November, is probably an even greater inversion of the norm than even he had imagined.

SCB is the original: Thailand’s first bank, established by royal charter in 1907, with King Vajiralongkorn as its single largest shareholder. It is a regular winner of our country awards for its prudent combination of growth and stability, with usually the best ratios and other metrics in the industry.

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