Bitcoin Daily: Bitfinex Sees Bets Against Bitcoin Double, Thai Watchdog Reviews Crypto License Application

Thailand’s financial watchdog has published the names of seven firms that have applied for a license to operate in the cryptocurrency space within the country, Cryptovest reported. Trading sites such as Coin Asset, TDAX, Bitcoin Co. Ltd., Bitkub Online and Cash2coins have filed for a license with Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). And two dealers, Digital Coin and Coins TH, have put in applications through the agency.

In March, the country’s Digital Asset Management Act BE 2561 law was approved. With that law, companies in the crypto space had to make a request to the Thailand’s SEC no later than Tuesday (Aug. 14) for a license. Even so, firms will be able to work with clients while the agency looks over their applications. After the SEC reviews the applications, they will then proceed to the country’s finance ministry.

In other news, cryptocurrencies seem to be holding their own after a tumultuous few days, MarketWatch reported. Bitcoin’s price was relatively stable on Thursday (Aug. 16), compared to earlier in the week. The popular cryptocurrency was priced at $6,271.95 as of 7:30 p.m., according to CoinDesk, but it had fallen below the $6,000 level on Tuesday.

Overall, the total value of all digital currencies was about $209 million, according to MarketWatch, and was $20 billion away from the market’s low on Monday (Aug. 13). Two hours before close on the exchange of the CME Group, only 3,752 August bitcoin futures contracts had been exchanged. By comparison, 7,222 of those contracts had changed hands on Wednesday (Aug. 15).

Elsewhere, data from one of the largest crypto exchanges suggests that more investors are interested in betting against bitcoin than there were earlier in the month, MarketWatch reported. In fact, Bitfinex has seen those wagers double. More specifically, the short interest on Bitfinex has grown from 18,000 BTC on the first day of August to 36,000 BTC on Wednesday. There are some restrictions, however, as customers can’t borrow more than 70 percent of the digital currency in a short sale.