Thailand to Implement Ban on Unlicensed Crypto Exchanges as a Measure to Combat Cybercriminal Activities

Thailand is taking action to prevent money laundering and other online crimes by blocking unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges from operating in the country. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand will compile a list of unlicensed exchanges and submit it to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. This decision was influenced by similar actions taken by India and the Philippines, which recently banned offshore exchanges that did not comply with local regulations. To minimize the impact on the public, the Thai SEC is urging crypto investors to withdraw their funds from unregistered platforms before the ban comes into effect. Investors are advised to use the SEC Check First application to verify the license registrations of platforms before making any investments. Notably, popular offshore exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, KuCoin, Kraken, and OKX are not operating legally in Thailand. In Europe, regulatory pressure may also lead to a ban on non-decentralized protocols, as the European Commission is required to evaluate the decentralized finance (DeFi) market and the feasibility of specific regulations for the sector by the end of the year. This could potentially impact DeFi interfaces, such as decentralized exchanges, and impose licensing requirements.