The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand will forward information about unauthorized cryptocurrency platforms to a higher authority for subsequent blocking. This is stated on the regulator’s website.
The decision was made on April 19 at a meeting of the government committee on preventing technology-related crimes. Local access will be restricted by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society following court approval.
The SEC advised local users to withdraw their assets from such platforms. According to the agency, the blocking will help law enforcement prevent their use by criminals for illegal activities, such as money laundering.
The authorities cited similar actions by India and the Philippines. In 2023, the regulator of the latter warned investors against engaging with Binance, and later took steps to block the platform.
Back in the same year, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit accused nine major bitcoin exchanges of operating without registration and violating anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.