As per recent the report published by Bank of Thailand(BoT), all the local banks can now proceed with cryptocurrencies dealing. This involves issuing digital tokens, crypto brokerage services, invest in cryptocurrencies through subsidiaries.
Although the Bank of Thailand(BoT) has regulated cryptocurrency usage on a broader spectrum, all the crypto-dealing banks have to be approved by Thailand’s Securities, and Exchange Commission. Also as per local media site, if any bank is offering crypto-related services or subsidiaries to an individual, such offers are to be banned.
On a high level, this announcement emphasizes major changes made or canceled on initial circular. The main intent of the document is that subsidiaries are allowed to provide investment resources to the customer in digital assets if it satisfies the agenda of ‘Financial Innovation’ or expands the quality of financial services.
It is to be noted that, BoT had made an announcement earlier this year about prohibiting the banks in the country from investing and trading crypto and also participating in establishing crypto exchanges. Also, Thailand’s Central bank banned the customers from using credit cards for any crypto purchases.
Overall, the timeline of Crypto ecosystem in Thailand was subjected to a series of changes in the past few months.
- May 2018: Regulating cryptocurrencies as “digital assets and digital tokens,” as per Thai SEC.
- June 2018: Interbank settlement can be done using Central Bank issued digital currency. This would help in reduction of validation time as the intermediate process for transactions will be less.
- July 2018: Government of Thai proposed to regulate Initial Coin Offerings(ICO) and operate in government rules.
It is yet to be seen what changes Thai government can implement. What do you think of these regulations? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
