Thai digital assets pioneer Akalarp runs into turbulence
When Akalarp Yimwilai co-founded Zipmex Thailand in 2018, his aim was to create a platform that would become the foundation of Asia’s financial architecture, allowing everyone to experience the digital assets world.
But the falling prices of cryptocurrencies and the liquidity crunch faced by Zipmex Global — a partner of Zipmex Thailand — forced Akalarp to suspend trading on his company’s platform for two hours on Wednesday evening.
The suspension was aimed at distancing Zipmex Thailand from trading on Zipmex Global to prevent more damage.
Akalarp founded Zipmex Thailand with Marcus Lim, the CEO of Zipmex Global.
Akalarp himself is a legal veteran in the finance industry, specialising in capital markets and digital assets.
He registered Zipmex Co Ltd on October 25, 2018 with a registered capital of 112 million.
He registered Zipmex Technology Co Ltd on March 11, 20202 with registered capital of 50 million baht.
On November 8, 2021, he registered Zipmex Thai Subsidiary Co Ltd with registered capital of 51 million baht.
And the Zipmex Thai Group was registered on January 20, 2022 with 26.01 million baht registered capital and Akalarp as founder.
On January 20, 2022, he registered Zipmex Thai Holding Co Ltd with 1.961 million baht registered capital.
He got a bachelor’s degree in law from Bloomsbury London University and a master’s degree in law from Georgetown University before getting a doctorate in public administration from Sripathum University.
He is a legal expert on the financial markets and the stock exchange and worked with a trust company for almost 10 years as an executive.
He said he became interested in trading in digital assets when he was studying in England after receiving financial services there. He got more experience with trading in digital assets when he studied for his master's degree in the United States.
He found Thailand lagging behind in digital assets technologies like several other Asia-Pacific nations. He foresaw that digital assets trading would happen in Thailand one day, so he talked with Lim about setting up the Zipmex Thailand platform.
He initially aimed to push Zipmex Thailand and its partner Zipmex Global as the leading digital assets trading platform in the Asia Pacific but the falling prices of currencies and liquidity crunch of the partner has dealt him a blow.
