Kasikorn Bank in Thailand Acquires 97% Shares of Satang Exchange for $103M

• Kasikorn Bank in Thailand acquired 97% of shares in the Satang crypto exchange.
• The deal was carried out through a new K-Bank subsidiary called Unita Capital.
• Satang will be renamed as Orbix which will have three subsidiaries.

Thailand’s Kasikorn Bank which is also known as K-Bank stated that it has acquired the parent company of Satang crypto exchange, which functioned since 2017. According to reports, K-Bank bought 97% of shares in the parent company of the Satang crypto exchange for 3.705 billion Thai baht ($102.8 million). The deal was carried out via a new K-Bank subsidiary called Unita Capital, which is mandated to invest in digital assets companies.

Once the deal is completed, the Satang crypto exchange will be rebranded to Orbix. Furthermore, there will be three additional subsidiaries: Orbix Custodian, Orbix Invest (a digital asset fund manager), and Orbix Technology, a blockchain technology developer.

The announcement was made just a month after K-Bank launched a $100 million fund targeting web3, fintech, and AI. K-Bank launched this initiative to keep neck and neck with its rival Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), which is moving faster into the Web3 realm.

Udomsak Rakwongwan, a professor at Kasetsart University and the co-founder of FWX.finance, which K-bank invested in, stated:

K-Bank is intensifying its efforts in the cryptocurrency sector, positioning itself alongside SCB. They are keen on offering a full spectrum of crypto services permitted in Thailand,

With this initiative, KBank will aim to serve traditional financial stakeholders in the consumer, corporate, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It will specifically focus on consumer and problem-specific AI, cybersecurity, node validators, ZKP, wallets, and consumerization of NFTs.