BoT governor warns people not to expect appreciation of digital currencies

BANGKOK, Jan 18 (TNA) -- Bank of Thailand (BoT) Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob warns general people not to misunderstand that the value of digital currencies would always rise. New digital currencies were always launched, so their amounts were increasing, he said. Investors in cryptocurrencies must be careful. They were not legalized and should not be called by the word “coin” because they were more similar to investment instruments that were intangible, he said. The governor commented that investment in Bitcoin was highly risky because its value was fluctuating and hacking could deplete its value. Thai financial institutions had not been involved with trading in a cryptocurrency because they were careful, Mr Veerathai said. He also said that cryptocurrencies had not affected the stability of Thailand’s financial system. A committee consisting of representatives from many concerned organisations was handling issues relating to digital currencies, the governor of the central bank said. All concerned parties feared that cryptocurrencies could be abused for money-laundering, Mr Veerathai said. (TNA)