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- For a new account, exchanges must ensure that documents submitted by customers comply with the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) guidelines.
- The documents also need to be verified by relevant government agencies.
- The application will be rejected if the customer submitted fake documents or resides in a country where crypto trading is banned.
Under Thailand’s new crypto rules, local digital exchanges must verify their customers’ identities through a “dip-chip” machine that requires clients to be physically present. This new rule comes into effect in July.
At present, the account opening process at crypto exchanges is done entirely online. According to Bitcoin News, for a new account, exchanges must ensure that documents submitted by customers comply with the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) guidelines.
The documents also need to be verified by relevant government agencies. Application will be rejected if the customer submitted fake documents or resides in a country where crypto trading is banned.
Thailand comes in the category of countries like India, Nigeria, Bolivia, and Turkey to either ban or heavily regulate cryptocurrencies.
Things to become tougher
The new rules will definitely have a dampening effect on Thai crypto exchanges that are witnessing a booming demand for cryptocurrencies. Thailand has 697,780 cryptocurrency accounts – as recorded on April 26, 2021. Of this, 160,000 accounts were added in 2021 alone.
Thailand already has several anti-money laundering (AML) regulations around cryptocurrency purchases. Exchanges need to report any transaction worth over 1.8 million baht under the existing money laundering law. They also have to maintain databases for inspections.
Moreover, Thailand had recently proposed harsh laws. This, as per Finance Magnates, was based on the income group, which potentially blocked a majority of the country’s population from investing in cryptocurrencies.
Crypto exchanges and investors to fight back
Crypto investors and exchanges in the country will definitely not take the new rules sitting down. There will be a fight. Poramin Insom, Co-founder and director of Satang Corp, said most digital asset exchanges are still busy preparing their systems to accommodate the growing number of clients as new account applications continue to flow in.