Thailand has decided that all crypto firms operating within its provincial borders must be officially licensed and approved to conduct business. The global crypto market is growing by the day, especially now that most cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin are going through a bullish phase. With more investors flocking to the crypto circle, governments around the world are taking action to strengthen regulations for companies and exchanges associated with the volatile sector. Its aim is to ensure that crypto investments do not cause financial loss to investor communities.
This week, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand issued a public order stating that it was coordinating with the Thai government to block unauthorized providers of digital asset services.
“At the meeting on April 19, 2024, it was decided to order the SEC to furnish information about unauthorized digital asset service providers to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, proceed to block access to the platform of the said service provider ,” Pornnong Busaratrakul, secretary general of the Thai SEC, said in a official statement,
Earlier this year, the Indian government also announced that crypto players who are not registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) will not be allowed to operate their businesses in the country. Cryptocurrencies are able to facilitate peer-to-peer transfer of large amounts of money in real time, even across borders. Since crypto transactions are largely anonymous, notorious crooks exploit crypto assets to facilitate illegal activities such as money laundering.
Many governments around the world are trying to reduce the misuse of digital assets before the sector seamlessly merges with existing global financial systems. The Thai government, in its public order, has advised all citizens to withdraw any funds deposited on unregistered crypto exchanges to avoid facing any financial losses as the decision to ban unregistered exchanges comes into effect. It is done.
Bybit, OKEx, Gate.io and Bitkube are among the popular platforms that are providing crypto exchange services in Thailand. Thai authorities have now issued a List Entities that provide crypto-related services but have not received official approval to do so.
“The SEC wishes to warn the public and investors to be wary of using services with unauthorized digital asset business operators. Because they will not get protection by law. The notice states that there is a risk of fraud (scam) including the risk of money laundering.
Thai authorities have also asked for help from the public in identifying unlicensed service providers in the digital assets sector. Thailand is taking steps to tighten surveillance on crypto-related operations at a time when crypto circles are expanding in the tourist destination. it is estimated 13.02 million people in Thailand, which is 9.3 percent of the total population, own cryptocurrencies.
Crypto crimes are already causing financial loss to Thai citizens, now the government there wants to prevent crypto assets from being exploited within its territory. In August 2023, Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy claimed that over 2,00,000 Thai citizens were defrauded through Facebook, where scammers lured them into crypto schemes and auctions for high returns, among other scams Was. Thai authorities said at the time that the collective financial loss due to these scams was THB 10,000 million (about Rs 2,370 crore).