beincrypto.com
Thailand-based asset management company Brooker Group (BROOK) is planning on being the first publicly listed company in the world to invest in decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens and decentralized applications (dApps).
Bangkok-based Brooker Group sees a massive opportunity in these burgeoning niches. Its initial plan is to invest $48 million but the firm is looking to eventually convert around 50 percent of its total holdings into dApps and DeFi assets.
It will be focusing on some big-name players in the space, including Binance, Uniswap, Enjin, and Filecoin in Q2 2021. It will kick off its venture by investing in more than 15 companies that it feels has the potential for growth.
Head of the Digital Asset Division and International Business Finance Advisory at The Brooker Group, Varit Bulakul, believes that it’s important for asset management firms to get involved with DeFi sooner rather than later.
“The next frontier in financial technology will be decentralized finance. We believe that legacy funds have a responsibility to their clients to invest in emerging technology or risk being left behind as the sector matures.”
Digital asset trading actually remains higher in Asia than in Europe and the United States combined. Despite its popularity, however, it’s not all good news for crypto in the South Asian country. The Thai government has been clamping down with regulations on crypto. New crypto regulations require that anyone who wants to open up an account must physically register, and cannot be done online.
The new regulations will come into place from September 2021. They were introduced by the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) to curb money laundering in the Southeast Asian nation. Those wishing to set up a new crypto account will be required to submit key documents in person to register, as well as scan their Thai identification card in what is being referred to as a “dip-chip” machine. The dip-chip machine system has previously been employed to register gold traders in Thailand.