This Thailand Cafe offers crypto advice with coffee and cake

A cafe in northeast Thailand has turned into a haven for cryptocurrency traders, with banks of screens showing the latest market movements and financial advice available alongside coffee and cake.

Customers at HIP Coffee & Restaurant stare at their laptops behind a tranquil backdrop of cherry blossom trees, sipping nervously on iced coffee – part of a surge in interest in digital assets in Thailand that has regulators concerned.

Detnarong Satianphut, a 35-year-old crypto trader, said, “It’s exciting for me to be here because I get to meet people who share the same interests.”

“We (traders) get to exchange information because, in the trading world, we are coming up against millions of people.”

Thailand takes solid steps towards crypto

According to the most recent official data, crypto has been gaining traction in Thailand, with as much as 251 billion baht ($7.62 billion) in digital assets moved in November. The country is expected to release a consultation paper for crypto this year.

Thailand announced earlier this month that it would begin to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies as payments, warning of potential hazards to economic stability and the wider economic system.

In 2020, the HIP cafe, which has been operational since 2013, received a crypto makeover.

Customers have increased by 100% since then, according to workers. The cafe gives different investment opportunities for individuals in the nearby Nakhon Ratchasima region, according to manager Oakkharawat Yongsakuljinda. It provides free investing advice and plans to launch its own crypto token.

Customers claim that trading in the cafe gives them the best chance of success in a volatile market, where the top cryptocurrency, bitcoin, has hit six-month lows. Bitcoin is currently trading at $37,000 and is down by 2% in the last 24 hours. However, Bitcoin has performed a little better in the last week as it has been up by more than 4.5% in the last seven days.

“Having so many screens helps a lot … We immediately know and get to analyze crashing factors and whether we should buy, “Apakon Putnok, a 23-year-old trader, agreed.