Thailand Regulators Make Further Improvements in Crypto Regulation

Thailand is one of the few Asian countries that have already taken steps towards regulating cryptocurrency under federal jurisdiction. Better still, the recent cryptocurrency controversy of Thailand has managed to make major headlines in the financial news section globally. Some of the strict rules and regulations imposed by the Thailand SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) upon ICOs are currently under the scrutiny of the masses.

The SEC made its first move towards sanctioning the usage of cryptocurrency in Thailand by passing the Digital Assets Decree in 2018. Some of the major points of this decree are given as under:

  1. All ICOs can only be operational through dedicated portals for project submissions.
  2. Thai SEC would conduct the final vetting and screening process of the applied-for ICOs, according to its established bylaws.
  3. All listed ICOs in the country of Thailand would need certification and registration from the SEC.
  4. All ICOs organizers applying for SEC approval must have a base capital of at least 5 million baht.
  5. In accordance with Thai SEC regulations, only seven recognized ICOs organizers would be able to commence operation in the country. These projects include Ether, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin Cash, XRP, and Stellar.
  6. Only real case and SEC-recognized ICOs organizers could issue cryptocurrency tokens.
  7.  Professional investors, investment pools, private equity firms, and high net worth individuals can access a limitless grant of crypto tokens.
  8. Retail investors and any individual with a lesser net worth than 1 million baht would only qualify for a crypto token of baht 300,000.

A sizeable amount of crypto stakeholders has taken up an issue with the limited number of investing eligibility under the Thai SEC’s sanctions. In response to this backlash, the SEC has decided to back its original decree. Ruenvadee Suwanmongko, the chairing SEC secretary-general, further maintains that the volatile nature of cryptocurrency poses a big threat for the country’s small investors.

According to further comments by the SEC chief, these decrees and sanctions were passed to protect the public interest and safeguard the small investor from the risk of losing money. The uproar about the investor limitation has continued to make noise. Further weight has been added to this appeal after the Bitcoin popularity and rise in 2020. As a result, the ongoing court appeal against SEC sanctions has been moved forward from March 24th to March 03rd, 2021.