Thai Securities Regulator Propose Fresh Legislation for Crypto Custodians
Cryptocurrencies can no longer be classified as a niche sector in light of the tremendous development made. At the moment, the primary worry with this emerging industry seems to be with regulations that define how the technology fits into our present economy.
As of now, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken the next step in this direction, soliciting public comment until late September on the proposed crypto custody laws.
Crypto Exchanges in the Crosshair
The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new laws on Wednesday concerning the custody of investors’ cryptocurrency assets held by digital asset business operators. The latest proposed regulations include both fiat money custody for digital asset accounts and cryptocurrency lending, or earning interest on cryptocurrency holdings.
The SEC is explicitly trying to ban crypto businesses from utilizing investor assets for the “benefit of another client or other persons,” or from profiting from both investors’ fiat money and digital assets, including digital lending to other persons. The proposal states that “seeking benefits from clients’ fiat money shall be prohibited except in the form of deposit with commercial banks.”
The proposed legislation also suggests a new structure for withdrawing and transferring fiat money from digital asset accounts, which must adhere to the concepts of “decentralised approval authority, multi-sign approval authority, and check and balance.”
The guidelines, according to the SEC, will improve investor safety and the dependability of cryptocurrency service providers by guaranteeing that records of investors’ holdings are correct and up to date.
As of now, the SEC is now requesting public comments on these newly proposed regulations till September 22.
The Thai SEC has been aggressively implementing new crypto sector regulations this year, despite the country’s surging cryptocurrency usage. In March, the authority suggested imposing a minimum yearly income threshold of $32,000 for investing in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC). In June, the regulator prohibited crypto exchanges from processing certain token types, including non-fungible tokens.
CBDC Coming Soon
Meanwhile, The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has revealed that it plans to develop and test its retail CBDC in the second quarter of 2022. The central bank has announced that initial pilot tests would be conducted within a limited group under the BOT. Once the test is successful, the central bank will expand the CBDC to the public, retail stores, banks, and non-banking facilities.
