9th April 2023 - Thailand.

tl;dr

Thailand is about to embark on a crypto revolution.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

This is possibly the most boring crypto market ever experienced. I fear that I might still be quoting $28k in a week’s time.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Why Technical Analysis doesn’t mean a thing

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Thailand

Next month will see a general election in Thailand.

The main opposition party, Pheu Thai, have announced a series of ambitious measures to bolster its wide lead in the polls. These include a steep increase in minimum wages, a minimum monthly household income guarantee, measures aimed at tripling farm income, and the gifting of 8 million hectares of agricultural land to farmers. Bribery on a massive scale it seems, but no-one ever got elected on a platform of promising to make people poorer, a point the Green Party in the UK might be wise to take note of.

With debt at just over 50% of GDP, half that of the UK and two-thirds that of the EU, you can see how governmental fiscal incontinence spreads its malign influence.

…

The bit we are interested in is this eye-catching crypto initiative.

If Pheu Thai lead the next government, they intend to airdrop 10,000 baht (approximately $300) to all 55 million citizens aged 16 or over. Individuals will have to use blockchain based digital wallets to claim the cash, which must be spent within 6 months of the airdrop. With an average wage of 15,000 baht per month, this is a significant sum of money to many people.

There is both an upside and a downside to this promise.

The downside is that this is the most blatant attempt to date of forcing CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) on an unwitting population. My opinion of the iniquities of CBDCs has been frequently described in these daily missives, and I hardly need to go over that old ground again.

Just for the record though, if the UK government wanted to bribe me with the equivalent of two thirds of the UK’s monthly average wage (approximately £1,500) to create a GBP CBDC wallet, I would take the cash and buy cryptos with it. That would be my one and only CBDC transaction unless more bribes were offered further down the line.

It is estimated that 4mm people in Thailand currently own cryptos. The upside is that an additional 51 million people will become familiar with crypto concepts and technology.

That is a huge driver of retail adoption of cryptos.