Thailand’s SEC To Open Up Further To Existing Regulations To Boost Growth

Thailand’s SEC aims to open up to the existing regulatory framework in order to boost the growth of crypto in the country. China is going full steam ahead on the blockchain technology and Thailand is making plans to do the same with the existing regulations as we are reading further in the latest cryptocurrency news.

According to the reports in the local media, Thailand’s SEC plans to amend the digital asset business regulations next year. The overall goal is to facilitate the growth of the crypto assets while protecting investors from unnecessary risks. The secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol stated that they wish to study the existing regulations for any issues that they might find hinder digital asset business within the country:

 “Laws should not be outdated and should serve market needs, especially for new digital asset products, and be competitive with the global market. We need to explore any possible obstacles.”

The current stance on crypto businesses came into effect in May 2018 when it listed four types of secondary business intermediaries which were brokerage companies, crypto exchanges, dealers and token portal services including ICO portals. As it currently stands, the exchanges, brokers, and dealers are required to apply for a license from the Finance ministry while the ICOs have to get approval by the SEC.

Ms. Ruenvadee noted that there are a few other applications for the ICOs in Thailand but they have to satisfy the regulatory approval. She continued to explain that investors protection is also a priority:

 “The legislation also aims to protect investors from risk of fraud and deception by dishonest persons, money laundering and exploitation of digital assets to facilitate illegal financial transactions, while ensuring regulatory clarity to facilitate legitimate uses of digital assets.’’

According to Thailand’s SEC, five crypto companies were granted a crypto-asset exchange license and these include Bitkub Online Co and Satang Pro Corporation which are operating right now. Bitcoin Co unexpectedly closed the most popular exchange in the country BX Thailand which shocked the markets earlier. At that time, the regulators in the governments demanded huge amounts of transaction data from the company and its clients.

Now, the two other portals BitHERB co and Huobi Thailand have yet to commence operations. The regulator authorized the official licenses to three crypto brokers as well including Bitazza, Bitherb, and Coin TH.