Thai authorities are taking steps to block unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges in an effort to combat money laundering and online crimes. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand will be providing a list of unlicensed exchanges to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. This decision was announced by SEC Secretary-General Pornanong Budsaratragoon after a meeting of the Technology Crime Prevention and Suppression Committee on April 19.
Thailand’s move to block unlicensed exchanges follows the lead of India and the Philippines, both of which recently banned offshore exchanges that did not comply with local regulations. To minimize the impact on the public, the Thai SEC has urged crypto investors to withdraw their funds from unregistered platforms before the ban takes effect. The SEC also advised investors to check the license registrations of platforms using the SEC Check First application before making any investments. The SEC announcement indicated that popular offshore exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, KuCoin, Kraken, and OKX are not operating legally in Thailand, according to government data.
In related news, regulatory pressure in Europe may result in a ban on non-decentralized protocols. The European Commission is required to prepare a report evaluating the decentralized finance (DeFi) market and the feasibility of specific regulations for the sector by December 30. This could potentially lead to licensing requirements for certain DeFi interfaces, such as decentralized exchanges, according to MakerDAO co-founder Rune Christensen.
Overall, these developments reflect the increasing global efforts to regulate the cryptocurrency industry and ensure compliance with local laws and regulations.