Thailand’s central bank is stepping up supervision of stablecoins as part of a broader effort to crack down on money laundering, illicit financing and gray currency in the country.
The Bank of Thailand is working with the Securities and Exchange Commission to audit large-scale stablecoin transactions, with a focus on USD cash and foreign exchange transactions, to identify and stop illicit financial flows.
“The measures we are implementing are not a short-term solution; they require the continuous implementation of many parallel strategies,” said Bank of Thailand Governor Vitai Ratanakorn: According to on Saturday in the local daily The Nation.
Thailand is targeting the ‘gray market’, which largely consists of cash that may have come from suspicious sources such as fraudulent call centers that have spread across the region. While there is no reliable data on the gray market, fraud losses in 2025 could have been $3.4 billion with 173 million fraudulent calls and text messages.
Stablecoins have become a popular method for transferring gigantic amounts due to their almost instantaneous cross-border settlements.
Targeted cash, forex and gold trading
The move will expand commercial banks’ compliance obligations across teller networks, currency exchanges, gold bullion trading and “suspicious stablecoin transactions” to prevent regulated entities from facilitating corruption or the gray market, it said.
High-value cash transactions will also require a declaration of the source of funds, and the exchange of gigantic volumes of gigantic banknotes for smaller denominations without a clear business reason will also be monitored. Cash deposits worth more than 5 million baht ($150,000) also require full disclosure.
Related: Thai crypto platforms freeze 10,000 accounts in connection with anti-money laundering: report
Thailand has often been touted as a cryptocurrency paradise, but the central bank still banned payments in digital assets and stablecoins. regular tightening of regulations in crypto companies.
Cryptocurrency trading remains legal, with the country’s largest exchange, Bitkub, reporting daily turnover of around $26 million. However, almost 40% of this is forex, with the USDT/THB pair being the most popular according to CoinGecko.
The fight against fraudsters has gone wrong
Thailand’s banks have imposed far-reaching restrictions on accounts and froze three million bank accounts in 2025 as part of a crackdown on mule accounts, shadow capital and suspicious activity.
However, according to media reports, thousands of individuals and legitimate companies have been caught in this web described then as a “failed fight against fraudsters”.
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