In a bid to protect its economy and financial stability, Thailand’s SEC has issued a ban on the usage of cryptocurrency as payment. The Thai authorities later clarified that the ban will only be enforced for cryptocurrency payments and will not affect regular crypto and digital assets trading.
Thailand Bans Crypto Payments
Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Tuesday that it’s banning the use of cryptocurrency payments starting from April 1st.
According to the official notice issued by Thailand SEC, businesses and merchants in the region have been instructed to not accept payments in cryptocurrency from April 2022 citing risks related to financial and economic instability.
“According to the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have discussed the benefits and risks of digital assets and saw the need to regulate and control the use of digital assets as a medium for payment of goods and services Because it may affect the stability of the financial system and the overall economy.” The SEC statement noted.
The Thai authorities later added that the ban will only be imposed on cryptocurrency payments. Regular crypto trading and digital assets will remain untouched, as confirmed via multiple sources.
In its official statement, the SEC cited financial and economic instability as the primary reasons justifying its decision to ban crypto payments. Furthermore, the statement added that cryptocurrency usage as payments also poses “risks to people and businesses such as the risk of loss of value caused by price volatility Risk of Cyber Theft Risk of personal data leakage or being used as a tool of money laundering.”
Cryptocurrency trading in Thailand has received enormous traction in the past two years. A Bloomberg report added that Thai citizens have invested more than $3 billion in cryptocurrency this year.
In January 2022, the Thai SEC had also proposed a plan to regulate cryptocurrency in the region to let its citizens explore the digital asset domain. The nation had also assessed various tax structures earlier to regulate the digital asset sector in the region. However, its recent decision to ban cryptocurrency payments may prove detrimental to the region’s holistic cryptocurrency adoption plans.
