Laos recently hit the news by announcing that it has licensed 6 companies to trade and mine crypto currencies in the country.
The companies licensed are Wap Data Technology, Phongsubthavy Road & Bridge Construction, Sisaket Construction, Boupha Road-Bridge Design Survey, Joint Development Bank, and Phousy Group.
This decision strikes as a major change knowing that the central bank of Laos issued a warning a few weeks ago against the trading of cryptocurrencies.
The new licensees come from different backgrounds, mostly construction, only one truly having a financial background (JDB). We can safely assume that these construction companies will be using their license for crypto mining to start with.
One of the awarded companies (Welnance) communicated on Facebook its intention to build a crypto exchange and DeFi lending service in Lao PDR.
Crypto to boost Lao crippled economy
Laos generates most of its electricity from hydropower and export two-third of it to neighboring countries. Crypto mining is a lucrative activity for companies that can get access to cheap electricity rates.
Before the pandemic, the Laos tourism sector was very dynamic but a lot of companies have gone bankrupt since.
This new move appears to be a decision to boost this economy by leveraging its most precious asset: power dams.
By giving away these licenses, the Lao government will not only be able to sell its electricity in excess but also generate new jobs that will ultimately benefit the economy.
The government will now work with the Bank of Laos and Electricité du Laos (EDL), the national power utility, to put in place a framework to regulate this industry.
Neighbor country Thailand was one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to pass cryptocurrency laws
Thailand’s Tourism Authority recently expressed the idea of creating its own Utility Token to Attract Crypto Holders and boost liquidity among local tourism operators.
Few days ago, The Securities Exchange and Commission of Thailand (SEC) issued a license to an Ethereum based real estate project. The service will allow crypto holders to invest and own legally part of a property in Thailand.
Nowadays, it is already possible to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with Lao KIP by using the Binance P2P platform. If you want to find out how to buy cryptocurrencies with LAK, take a look at our blog post released earlier this year.