Thai Bitcoin Exchange Reopens with Enhanced Services

Th has relaunched as a full exchange after months spent offline and in testing, with a focus on security and ease of use, according to its founders.

Th went offline in July last year after the Bank of Thailand supposedly indicated that bitcoin was not legal.

The central bank then suggested in March that bitcoin was risky but not necessarily illegal in the country, opening the door to legitimate bitcoin businesses.

The exchange is still listed as being in beta mode, but this is mainly an initial precaution and the exchange is fully functional.

Notably, the exchange also interacts with Thailand-based banks accounts, allowing users to deposit and withdraw using the local currency, the baht.

Digital currency trades are available too, allowing exchanges between bitcoin and eight selected altcoins, including litecoin, dogecoin, peercoin, feathercoin and zetacoin.

The fact that several on its management team are foreign-born suggests the local bitcoin economy is driven in part by expat efforts, although local business people are becoming interested as they discover the advantages of the company's bitcoin exchange services.

The exchange, along with its banking-related services, is restricted to Thailand customers only.

The company is not trying to compete with large international exchanges, Barnes said, but aims mainly to provide a convenient service within the country.

For transparency, the exchange publishes a list of all addresses with unspent inputs so they can be checked with a service such as Blockchain.