4th Annual SPiCE:
UNITING THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN iGAMING INDUSTRY
13-15 August 2025
Thailand
The Landmark Bangkok
Nicholas Levenstein to Speak at SPiCE Southeast Asia 2025 – Bangkok
Date: August 15th, 2025
Format: Workshop
Location: SPiCE Southeast Asia 2025, Bangkok, Thailand
Full Agenda: https://www.spiceseries.com/ssea
We’re proud to announce that Nicholas Levenstein, Managing Director of Nicholas Levenstein & Company, will be speaking at SPiCE Southeast Asia 2025, a premier event focused on investment, innovation, and regulatory trends shaping the future of gaming, blockchain, and digital assets in the region.
Nicholas will lead a special workshop titled:
“One Up On Wall Street: Would You Invest in You?”
Inspired by Peter Lynch’s investing classic, this session challenges founders, operators, and investors to evaluate themselves and their companies using evergreen value investing principles — retooled for today’s fast-evolving digital markets. Participants will learn how to:
Think like a professional investor in assessing business potential
Identify the internal drivers of value creation
Position for strategic partnerships, funding rounds, or acquisition
Apply traditional frameworks to blockchain and digital economy ventures
Drawing from decades of experience as a hedge fund manager and financial advisor, Nicholas will help you see your business from the perspective of those who invest — and how to become one they say yes to.
Notes for regulatory and cross-border payment roundtable:
Phoenix Protocol: Rebuilding Gaming Finance Through Blockchain Trust
Introduction: Thailand’s Trust Vacuum
Thailand stands at a crossroads. The bold effort to legalize integrated casino resorts collapsed in July 2025—not because there was no economic case, but because the system couldn’t offer trust. Policymakers feared money laundering, data breaches, and underground crime more than they wanted the tax revenue.
This is the 'trust vacuum.'
What we need is not another closed-door bill. We need a new system—one where compliance is verifiable, real-time, and automatic. And that’s what crypto—specifically, Bitcoin and stablecoins on distributed ledgers—can deliver.
Section 1: The Entertainment Complex Bill — A Vision That Collapsed
Thailand’s now-withdrawn casino bill imagined mega-resorts attracting billions in investment. Global giants like Las Vegas Sands lined up. Estimates said a legalized Thai casino market could overtake Singapore’s.
But the draft bill was flawed. It:
- Banned all online betting
- Relied on physical control—walls, levies, and bank deposit minimums
- Offered no verifiable financial safeguards against laundering
Then came political chaos...
Section 2: Thailand’s Dual Crypto Policy — Open Door, Iron Fist
Thailand’s stance on crypto is nuanced:
- Open door: global digital asset hub (tax breaks, stablecoin approvals)
- Iron fist: crackdown on unlicensed platforms
The strategy: a 'walled garden' where only licensed, monitored activity is allowed. This is key to building a regulated crypto-powered gaming ecosystem.
Section 3: Cross-Border Payments — Still Broken
Current systems are slow and expensive. Crypto solves this:
- Instant settlement
- Low cost
- Transparent, auditable
Traditional rails can't match crypto’s speed and traceability.
Section 4: Crypto as “Digital Cash on a Distributed Ledger”
Bitcoin and stablecoins enable:
1. Immutable ledgers
2. Smart contracts for compliance
3. Real-time oversight by regulators
4. Verifiable fairness
Thailand has tested this already with SCB’s stablecoin pilot.
Section 5: Strategic Blueprint — What We Can Do Now
Operators: use closed-loop stablecoin wallets with on-chain KYC
Regulators: launch a sandbox, observe live flows, audit in real-time
This makes compliance proactive and transparent.
Section 6: Addressing the Critics
Volatility? Use stablecoins.
Complexity? Hide it from the user.
Smart contract risk? Audit them.
Blockchain doesn’t replace regulation—it enforces it better.
Conclusion: A Second Chance to Get It Right
The EC Bill failed due to lack of trust. Blockchain provides a path to rebuild it.
Let’s turn Thailand into a global model of tech-powered compliance and transparent gaming finance.