Thailand proposes $148K daily cap on stablecoin deposits and withdrawals

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission has overseen digital asset businesses under the 2018 Digital Asset Business Decree, and since 2022 it has barred crypto from being used as a means of payment inside the country. Stablecoins such as Tether's USDT have become a preferred settlement tool for scam compounds operating along Thailand's borders with Myanmar and Cambodia, moving proceeds quickly across accounts. The new draft targets that specific channel rather than crypto trading generally.

Under the draft, a customer at any licensed Thai exchange or broker could move at most 5 million baht, about $148,000, in stablecoins out and the same amount in, each day, with every transfer checked against matching wallet ownership. Exporters, OTC desks and traders settling large deals in USDT would need to split transactions across multiple days or counterparties. Retail users trading modest amounts would barely notice the ceiling, while high-volume desks lose same-day settlement flexibility.

Stablecoins were built to move value instantly between any two wallets without a bank intermediary checking identity on each leg; a same-owner-only rule reverses that by default. Thailand's approach mirrors tightening elsewhere in Southeast Asia, where regulators link stablecoin rails to scam-compound financing rather than retail speculation. The trade-off is real: capping and tying transfers to verified identity can push large flows toward unregulated platforms or informal channels, the opposite of the containment regulators are seeking. (per cointelegraph.com)

The draft remains open for public comment, and Thailand's SEC has not yet set a date for finalizing the rule or confirmed whether the 5 million baht figure will survive industry feedback. Licensed operators, including exchanges and brokers, are the ones required to implement the wallet-matching checks once rules take effect, and the regulator's final text will determine whether thresholds differ for institutional accounts.

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