Thai central bank reviews high-value USDT transactions, combating money laundering and gray capital

The Bank of Thailand is tightening stablecoin regulations to combat money laundering, illicit financing, and "gray capital" in the country. The central bank, in cooperation with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is reviewing high-value stablecoin transactions, focusing on USDT, cash transactions, and foreign exchange conversions, to identify and prevent illicit fund flows. Thailand will also expand the compliance responsibilities of commercial banks in cash networks, foreign exchange exchanges, gold bar transactions, and suspicious stablecoin transactions. In 2025, Thailand suffered fraud losses totaling 115 billion Thai baht, approximately $3.4 billion, and recorded about 173 million scam calls and texts. Cash deposits exceeding 5 million Thai baht also require full disclosure. Thailand's largest exchange, Bitkub, has a daily trading volume of around $26 million, nearly 40% of which is foreign exchange trading, with the USDT/THB trading pair being the most popular. The Thai banking sector froze 3 million bank accounts in 2025 as part of efforts to combat nominee accounts, gray capital, and suspicious activities. (Cointelegraph).