Crypto exchanges are trading platforms where you can buy or sell cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, 1inch, Enjin, Polkadot, Cardano, etc. These platforms can be global, regional, or sometimes local. Popular Thai Bitcoin exchanges include Binance, CoinBase, Kraken, Crypto.com, and Coinmama.
A few crypto exchanges also let you invest in cryptocurrencies and earn interest by holding them as you typically do for a savings account with a bank. Cryptocurrency exchanges are closely regulated in Thailand by the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with guidance from the Ministry of Finance.
Binance is the most popular and reputed global crypto exchange in Thailand. Zipmex, a regional exchange based in Singapore, has also set up a physical office in Bangkok. In addition, you can buy Bitcoin and other coins from two Thailand-based local exchanges – Bitkub and Satang Pro.
This article will introduce major exchanges to buy cryptocurrencies in Thailand. We have compared them based on fee structure, features, availability, liquidity, pros, and cons.
What is Cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency is a virtual or digital currency that maintains transaction records in a decentralized system. When you compare with a fiat currency such as USD of the USA or THB of Thailand, you will find two key differences.
First, fiat money is controlled and issued by a central authority, usually the country’s central bank. In contrast, cryptocurrencies are issued and maintained in a decentralized manner. For example, Bitcoin is generated through mining, and transactions are maintained through a public ledger known as the blockchain.
Second, fiat money usually has an asset to back it up. On the other hand, the value of cryptocurrencies is determined by the community’s trust and overall perception of people toward the currency. For example, when many merchants accept payment in crypto, it usually sends positive signals to the market and boosts investors’ confidence. As a result, prices typically go up. Similarly, negative regulatory changes generally cause the prices to go downward.
So how good is crypto as an investment tool?
Here are a few stats and forecasts for you. Fortune Business Insights has estimated that the global crypto market will grow at a CAGR of 11.1% from 2021 to 2028. If the industry grows significantly, most reputed coins will likely follow suit.
For example, Ethereum (ETH) is the world’s second-most popular coin after BTC. At the time of this writing, ETH is traded at USD 1,990. WalletInvestor, an algorithm-based price analysis tool, has forecasted that ETH prices will reach USD 3,717 by 2023 and USD 10,990 by 2027.
Therefore, you cannot ignore the long-term growth prospect of crypto investments. However, it is a risky investment in the short term as the market is highly volatile.
Because of the incredible growth potential of this industry, there are now over 600 crypto exchanges globally. Let’s now take a closer look at the ones you can use for crypto trading from Thailand.
How To Buy Cryptocurrency In Thailand: Step By Step?
There are a few ways to buy cryptocurrency in Thailand. The easiest way is to go to a broker. Coins TH has the license to operate as a cryptocurrency broker or dealer in Thailand.
You can also choose P2P exchanges like LocalBitcoins or Paxful, letting you buy cryptocurrency directly from other individuals from the auction market.
However, most users prefer to buy cryptocurrencies directly from the Thailand Bitcoin exchanges. Here are the steps you would do on this platform:
- Step 1: Create an account with a crypto exchange.
- Step 2: Verify your ID with personal information and proof of ID.
- Step 3: Deposit funds to your account. You can either do it through a crypto wallet or directly pay in fiat money through a credit card or wire transfer.
- Step 4: Go to the list of supported currencies and choose the one you want to buy.
- Step 5: Enter your desired amount. You will see the price in USD or THB.
- Step 6: Complete payment.
- Step 7: Transfer cryptocurrency to your crypto wallet or keep it in your savings account within the exchange.
Best Crypto Exchange Thailand: Compared
1. Binance
Binance is one of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, with over 90 million registered users globally. The exchange supports over 600 cryptocurrencies and several hundred trading pairs to give you one of the highest liquidity possible.
Binance eyed an excellent growth opportunity in Thailand, as 74% of the country’s population has internet access, which is one of the highest globally. Realizing the prospect, Binance partnered with Satang Pro, a regulated and popular cryptocurrency exchange in Thailand, to enable the THB fiat channel for its users.
Key Features:
- Great Liquidity: Binance has a complete coins and digital assets ecosystem. Thus, you will have significant liquidity for your currencies. For example, you can use it for payment through Binance Pay or buy NFTs from the Binance Marketplace.
- Business Potential: You can grow your business through Binance as Binance Pay lets you receive payment from your global customers.
- Earning from Investment: Binance Earn lets you earn interest on your cryptocurrency holdings. It will also guarantee your principal and pay you 5% to 10% per annum.
- BNB Coin: You can convert your cryptocurrency to BNB, Binance Coin, and get a discount of up to 25% on merchant payments.
Fees:
- Trading Fee: 0.1%
- Minimum Deposit: $10
- Withdrawal Fee: 0.0002
Binance Review:
2. Huobi
Founded in China in 2013, Huobi is one of the oldest global cryptocurrency exchanges. Huobi initially focused its operations on Bitcoin and China. Then, it later established international offices in Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, the USA, and Thailand. Huobi acquired the US-based crypto trading platform Bitex in May 2022.
Because it has a local office in Bangkok, Huobi complies with the regulatory requirements provided by Thailand SEC.
Huobi is one of the few cryptocurrency exchanges to offer P2P trading and direct buying of cryptocurrencies. Thus, you can also buy and sell cryptocurrencies as a P2P trader through bidding or auctioning to get the pricing.
Key Features:
- Large Number of Digital Assets: Huobi supports over 500 digital assets and more than 100 coins. So, your fund with Huobi will remain highly liquid and readily convertible.
- Secure: Huobi Global has not faced a single security incident within the past nine years. Credit goes to their top-of-the-line security protocols and risk management.
- Global Offices: Huobi is one of the few exchanges to operate many global and regional service centers so that they can solve any customer issues locally. At present, they have over 200 regional service centers.
Fees:
- Trading Fee: 0.2%
- Minimum Deposit: $100
- Withdrawal Fee: 0.0004 BTC
3. Zipmex
Zipmex is a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange focusing primarily on the Southeast Asian market. The platform aims to bring the most advanced and intuitive trading features to the growing and highly prospective Southeast Asian region. Zipmex has a local office in Thailand, and they adhere to all of the local laws and regulations.
In addition, Zipmex has formed a strategic partnership with BitGo, an international asset security management firm based in the USA. Under the partnership, Zipmex ensures the cryptocurrency fund you will hold from accidental damage or cybersecurity incidents.
Key Features:
- Competitive Fee Structure: Zipmex charges 0.2% transactional fees from low-volume entry-level traders. This goes down to as low as 0.1% for bulk amounts, which is one of the lowest in the industry.
- Crypto as Savings Account: You can maintain a stable crypto savings account with Zipmex and earn up to 10% interest per annum while keeping your principal amount safe and insured.
- THB Support: You can connect Zipmex with your local Thai bank account. This will also allow you to trade cryptocurrencies almost instantly using money from your bank account.
- Advanced User Interface: The user interface of Zipmex is suitable for both beginner and advanced users. You can customize it and choose which tools to include.
Fees:
- Trading Fee: Maker/Taker: 0.2%/0.2%
- Minimum Deposit: $5
- Withdrawal Fee: 0.0002 BTC
4. Okcoin
Founded in 2013 in China, Okcoin is now one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally. The platform supports over 180 countries and more than 20 coins. It claims to provide bank-level security for your investment and currency holding through OKEx risk management and insurance.
Okcoin offers excellent liquidity as plenty of trading pairs are available for your cryptocurrency to convert into fiat and other coins.
Key Features:
- Automation: You can set automatic daily, weekly, and monthly purchases and the conditions or pricing for purchase.
- Funding Options: You can fund your investment through your Visa or Master cards. In addition, you can deposit funds through a wire transfer from Thailand.
- Mobile Apps: All the features that you will get on Okcoin’s trading interface are also available on its mobile apps for both iOS and Android.
- Trading Tips: Okcoin will show you trading tips when browsing the trading interface. For example, it may recommend you to gradually buy over some time instead of investing all of your money in one go. This gives you a better average cost.
Fees:
- Trading Fee: $10
- Minimum Deposit: Maker/Taker: 0.1%/0.2%
- Withdrawal Fee: Zero
5. Bitkub
Thailand SEC approved Bitkub in January 2019 as one of the two cryptocurrency exchanges to run operations in Thailand. To buy cryptocurrency in Thailand, you can deposit your funds in TBH to Bitkub from your local bank accounts.
As Bitkub is fully compliant with the Thailand SEC’s regulatory requirements, you need to complete a detailed KYC form at the time of registration. Also, the site will ask for verifications for each transaction to avoid any fraud and non-compliance. Professional traders and business clients can get API integration from Bitkub to facilitate secure and fast transactions.
Key Features:
- Referral Reward: Although there are no investment opportunities at Bitkub, you can, however, earn from the referral programs. For instance, you will get up to 80% commission if you refer someone. The referee will get up to 20% cashback as well.
- Detailed FAQs: Bitkub’s website hosts a comprehensive blog and guideline section with many detailed write-ups to help you trade and use the platform.
- 100% Reserve: Bitkub keeps 100% of its fund to itself without seeking any investment opportunities. Thus, your investment will always remain risk-free and liquid.
Fees:
- Trading Fee: 0.25%
- Minimum Deposit: Zero
- Withdrawal Fee: 0.0002 BTC
6. Kraken
US-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken started its journey in 2011. It acquired Bit Trade, an Australia-based crypto exchange, in 2020. At present, Kraken supports over 65 coins and is available to people from almost every country, including Thailand.
Kraken has a highly resourceful website with information, tips, guidelines, and tutorials for all kinds of traders, from beginner to advanced levels. With only a $10 minimum investment requirement, you can easily choose Kraken as your first cryptocurrency exchange to buy crypto in Thailand.
Key Features:
- Complete Solution: Kraken is suitable for all users, including institutional investors and local brokers. Businesses can integrate Kraken’s API to resell the trading services within their website.
- Security: Kraken carefully ensures the security of your crypto fund by providing top-notch security protocols, having a great relationship with financial institutions, and maintaining strict regulatory compliance.
- 24/7 Global Support: Kraken’s live chat is available 24/7. You will always get your queries answered in minutes.
Fees:
- Trading Fee: 0.9%
- Minimum Deposit: $10
- Withdrawal Fee: 0.01%
Kraken Review:
7. Satang Pro
Satang Pro is another Thailand-based cryptocurrency exchange apart from Bitkub, and it is registered under Thailand SEC. Previously, Satang Pro was known as Thai Digital Asset Exchange Company Limited (TDAX). The platform is open to almost all trading strategies, allowing experienced investors a great deal of freedom.
One drawback with Satang Pro is that they do not offer any investment services for cryptocurrencies to comply with local regulations. Thus, you can trade but cannot hold crypto as an investment. At present, you can earn a 30% trading commission on referrals from Satang Pro.
Key Features:
- API Integration: Satang Pro provides detailed API integration guidelines and documentation. They also offer Javascript SDK to business investors.
- Binance Partnership: Satang Pro has partnered with Binance so that you can withdraw and transfer coins effortlessly from Satang Pro to Binance.
- ISO Compliance: Apart from Thai regulatory compliance, Satang Pro is also compliant with multiple ISO standards, including ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 for information security and privacy information management.
Fees:
- Trading Fee: 0.2%
- Minimum Deposit: Zero
- Withdrawal Fee: 0.0005 BTC
8. Cex.io
Founded in 2013, Cex.io is a UK-based cryptocurrency exchange, which is also licensed and regulated in the USA. The platform has accumulated over 4 million users globally and supports over 200 coins and digital assets.
Cex.io has maintained an excellent reputation for security so far as they have never lost any funds from any accidents or cyber security incidents.
In addition, the exchange has a dedicated and vetted crypto research team that diligently checks and verifies every cryptocurrency as safe before accepting it to be traded on its platform.
Key Features:
- Multi-Platform: You can access Cex.io’s trading platform through the website, mobile apps, FIX API, REST API, and WebSocket, and it is a fully dynamic interface.
- Multiple Payment Methods: You can deposit funds from Thailand through several payment methods. It accepts credit cards, SWIFT, ACH, SEPA, and faster payments.
- Security Compliance: Cex.io is well-protected against frequent cyber security threats, including ransomware, malware, and DDoS. Also, it stores funds in cold storage to make it immune from accidents and disasters.
Fees:
- Trading Fee: 0.25%
- Minimum Deposit: $20
- Withdrawal Fee: From 3% + USD 1.2
[maxbutton id=”3″ url=”https://cex.io/r/0/up149733641/0/” text=”Start trading with Cex” ]
9. Coinmama
Founded in 2013, Coinmama is one of the industry pioneers among significant cryptocurrency exchanges. Despite having availability to over 180 countries, the exchange enlists only ten major currencies, which is mainly a beginner-friendly strategy.
Customer support aims to provide the friendliest customer service possible. Coinmama’s customer support managers are always ready to help with basic setup and configuration issues to accommodate novice users. Furthermore, Coinmama allows a high spending limit of USD 30,000 at a time to take advantage of the market trends.
Key Features:
- Several Payment Options: You can fund your Coinmama account from Visa or Master Cards, SEPA, Skrill, Google Pay, and Apple Pay.
- Fast Verification: The account verification process is very fast with Coinmama and completes within a few minutes once you provide some basic information.
- Third-party Wallets: As Coinmama does not hold your coins, you can instantly transfer them to your connected third-party wallet.
Fees:
- Trading Fee: Up to 3.9%
- Minimum Deposit: $50
- Withdrawal Fee: Zero
10. Wirex
Founded in 2014, Wirex is a US-based global cryptocurrency exchange with over 4.5 million registered users globally. You can buy over 150 types of coins from Wirex. Wirex also provides up to 2% cash rewards on your spending and features real-time POS conversion.
The exchange also provides Visa cards that you can use for your everyday payments using your crypto balance. However, keep in mind that the Thailand SEC has prohibited the use of cryptocurrency as a payment method starting from April 2022.
Key Features:
- Free Withdrawal: ATM withdrawal is free for up to USD 400 per month. Afterward, there will be a small fee of 1% for your withdrawal amount.
- Free FX Transaction: Wirex does not charge anything for the FX transactions. You can send money globally within seconds.
- Crypto Transfers: Wirex offers a Send Monety to Contacts feature, which is a free and convenient way to transfer assets.
Fees:
- Trading Fee: OTC commission only
- Minimum Deposit: $1
- Withdrawal Fee: 0% to 1% (Free up to USD 400 per month)
FAQs
1. How do I start investing in cryptocurrency?
To invest in cryptocurrency, you will first need to find a cryptocurrency exchange. Few exchanges pay you to hold cryptocurrencies, meaning you can use them as a savings account and get interest per annum. Examples include Binance and Zipmex.
- Should I invest in cryptocurrency in Thailand?
The market dynamics, external news, and rumors play a significant role in determining the price of coins, and Thailand is no exception. Moreover, as the regulatory bodies of Thailand have restricted the use of cryptocurrency as a payment medium, it will affect liquidity. That said, you cannot ignore the long-term growth potential of cryptocurrency. Thus, while investing in cryptocurrency, you should always consider the market’s volatility. Also, you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose.
3. Does Coinbase work in Thailand?
Coinbase is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges globally. However, it is not available in Thailand. Instead, you can go for Binance in Thailand, which is similar to Coinbase, considering its popularity, features, and reputation.
4. Is cryptocurrency banned in Thailand?
Thailand SEC, the controlling and monitoring body for digital assets exchange and trading in Thailand, has banned cryptocurrency as a payment medium starting from April 2022. However, the trading of cryptocurrency is not restricted or illegal. You simply cannot pay with cryptocurrency to local merchants to purchase goods and services.
5. What is the best crypto exchange in Thailand?
There are quite a few cryptocurrency exchanges available in Thailand. Binance is an excellent choice suitable for both entry-level and advanced users. Also, as Binance has partnered with Thailand-based Satang Pro, you can send funds to Satang Pro through Thai banking channels and then transfer them to Binance free of cost. Alternatively, Zipmex and Coinmama are also solid options for beginners.