The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially announced a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets as means of payment. The ban will come into effect on April 1, and digital asset payment operators will be given until the end of the month.
In a statement from the SEC, the regulator, together with the Bank of Thailand (BOT), sees the need to oversee and control the overall use of crypto as a means of payment for goods and services, in order to ensure the stability of the financial system and economy. specified. Digital assets are subject to surprisingly volatile price fluctuations, are at risk of theft or data leaks, and can assist criminals in money laundering, regulators say.
The SEC considers that the development of any pricing unit other than the official currency, the Thai baht, will increase the cost of economic activity and reduce the effectiveness of monetary policy transmission: “If there is a liquidity crisis in the country, the BOT cannot provide liquidity assistance to various financial institutions in ways other than Thai baht. ”
There is a lot of excitement about cryptocurrencies in Thailand. There are reportedly more people with alternative currencies in the country than anywhere else in the world. The government reported in January that digital assets owned by Thais were worth $3.4 billion.
El Salvador, meanwhile, takes a completely different approach. Last September, they became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as their legal currency.
This decision received criticism from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while the World Bank refused to assist El Salvador with implementation.
IMF sees Bitcoin’s volatility as a major risk. Bitcoin hit a peak of $65,000 in April 2021 and fell to less than half that two months later. Bloomberg has calculated that El Salvador probably lost $20 million between when it started buying Bitcoin last year and this January.
During the downturn, the IMF struggled to persuade El Salvador to abandon its crypto plans.
Central American country’s finance minister, Alejandro Zelaya, told local television that launching in the first half of the year is ideal and it will be difficult to raise capital in the international market after September…
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