Thai authorities have rejected the idea of legalizing cryptocurrency as a means of payment, considering it a threat to the country’s financial system.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand published a regulation calling on digital asset operators “not provide such payment services, and bar from acting in a manner that promotes the use of digital assets to pay for goods or services.” The plan is to increase the supervision of the cryptocurrency market as a whole.
Among the main reasons for this decision are the risks of destabilizing the country’s financial and economic systems. The regulator’s concerns are caused by a number of factors, including:
- high volatility of digital assets;
- the system’s vulnerability to hacker attacks;
- risks of personal data leakage;
- the use of cryptocurrency for money laundering.
The restrictions result from an additional study of the cryptocurrency market conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC) with the participation of employees of the Bank of Thailand (BOT). However, the use of crypto assets as an investment tool remains legal. Commercial operators are required to develop and implement mechanisms to restrict the use of cryptocurrencies as legal tender within the next 30 days. The restrictions will take effect on April 1, 2022. Earlier, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) was considering the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment option for tourists to offset the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions.
