Thailand Cracks Down on Unlicensed Cryptocurrency Exchanges

In an attempt to curb online crimes such as money laundering, the Thai government will ban any cryptocurrency exchange that does not have the proper permission to operate within the nation. The Thai SEC will notify the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society of all unauthorized cryptocurrency exchanges in Thailand.

Following the April 19 meeting of the Technology Crime Prevention and Suppression Committee, the directive was announced by Thai SEC Secretary-General Pornanong Budsaratragoon. Both India and the Philippines have recently outlawed any offshore exchanges that do not adhere to their national laws, which prompted Thailand to follow suit and blacklist unlicensed enterprises.
Several Exchanges Under Scrutiny

To lessen the blow to the general populace, the Thai SEC has asked cryptocurrency holders to move their money out of unlicensed exchanges before the ban goes into force.

Prior to investing, potential investors in Thailand are strongly encouraged to use the SEC Check First app to verify that the platforms in question have the necessary licenses. A cursory web search reveals that Binance is still not registered and will have to shut down when the prohibition is enforced.

Moreover, according to data provided by the Thai government, other well-known offshore cryptocurrency exchanges including OKX, Kraken, Coinbase, and KuCoin do not have the necessary licenses to operate in the country.

Proposals to outlaw non-decentralized protocols are being considered by European regulators. The new regulatory framework for digital assets in the region, known as Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), states that the European Commission must assess the decentralized finance (DeFi) market and the possibility of sector-specific regulations by December 30.