Thailand Sees Rising Adoption of Cryptocurrencies as Means of Payment — Warns of Risks

Bank of Thailand says a growing number of companies are asking for payments in cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ether. The central bank reiterates its stance on crypto and warns of the risks of using them as a means of payment.

• The Bank of Thailand (BOT), the country’s central bank, issued a warning notice titled “Caution on Using Digital Assets as Means of Payment for Goods and Services” on Thursday.
• The notice explains that some enterprises have recently begun soliciting payments for goods and services in cryptocurrencies, naming bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) as examples.
• The Thai central bank reiterated its stance that digital assets are not legal tender and it does not support their use as a means of payment for goods and services. The bank detailed that using cryptocurrencies as a means of payment leads to risks for both buyers and sellers, “such as price volatility, cyber theft, and money laundering.”

  

• Thailand’s central bank clarified:

Should the use of digital assets as a means of payment for goods and services become widespread, the BOT will coordinate with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other related agencies to take the necessary measures to ensure that they do not pose extensive risks to the general public or the economic and financial system.

• The Thai SEC recently banned regulated crypto exchanges from providing services related to meme cryptocurrencies, fan tokens, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
• The security regulator also filed a criminal complaint against Binance for illegally operating a crypto exchange business in the country.