Withholding tax to dampen ICO fund-raising 

  Karndee Leopairote, the chief executive officer of Icora, is among executives in this fast-moving area of financial innovation that have sounded the alarm over the country’s policies on digital currencies.
“We have already sent our concerns about the new cryptocurrency Act to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the imposition of the 15 per cent withholding tax,” she said. “This will impact the decision-making of investors who had been looking to put their money into ICOs and about the whole process to issue an ICO.”
Although the Act has aroused concerns among the issuers and investors, the company has 10 customers that are considering launching an initial coin offering under its ICO portal|service.
Icora’s ICO portal service acts like a financial adviser to the companies planning to launch an ICO, Karndee said. Its role is to examine the purpose of an ICO launch and the business plans of the companies planning these offerings.
Karndee said that Icora's operating qualifications are in compliance with the regulations of the SEC on ICO portal services, and pointed to |its expertise in the area and its strong partnerships.
She added that many potential customers have lined up to inquire about Icora's services, with 10 of them now considering ICOs worth between US$20 million and US$50 million per company.
She said that most of these companies wanting to launch ICOs in Thailand are in the real estate business, followed by those in the e-commerce and cultural tourism businesses. Other companies that have expressed an interest are listed companies that want to diversify their businesses.
Karndee said that younger people, in particular, were keen to invest in crypto currencies. Many of them have no prior investment experience and were drawn to opportunities that involved the use of advanced technologies associated with the new businesses.
She said that investment in cryptocurrencies is a promising area and should be supported.
Karndee said the company had voiced its concern to the SEC on the royal decree governing digital asset transactions.