. The popularity of cryptocurrency in Thailand has grown steadily over the past few years despite several setbacks. Thailand was among the first countries to regulate cryptocurrency and issue digital asset licenses. Thailand’s crypto hype came with the bull run during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, where
of over two million Thai Baht. That same year, Thailand led with the highest
, almost 5.7 million. Marketing efforts by Thai exchange platform, Bitkub, imparted awareness of cryptocurrency among Thais through advertising on mega billboards, online ads, and public transport. Given the stream of interest, the Thai government somewhat supports cryptocurrency, acknowledging its potential use for national development.
Crypto is not a legal tender in Thailand
Cryptocurrencies and digital tokens are considered digital assets under Thailand’s Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses. The decree regulates both secondary trading in crypto and initial coin offering (ICO). Crypto exchanges must obtain licenses from the Thai Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). Moreover, the digital assets operators, comprised of exchange, broker, and dealer, are only allowed to trade or exchange cryptocurrencies listed by the SEC and for Thai Baht. The digital asset operators are classified as financial institutions and must comply with anti-money laundering and financing terrorism regulations. In terms of taxation, only profits derived from trading of cryptocurrency and digital tokens and farming of digital tokens are subject to withholding tax.
As of April 2023, six digital asset exchanges and nine digital asset brokers possessed the license to buy and sell cryptocurrencies in Thailand and over seven
leading Thai cryptocurrencies. In 2021, when local exchanges facilitated the purchase of goods and services with cryptocurrencies, a cluster of Thais successfully purchased sports cars, houses, and apartments. Briefly, department stores under The Mall Group and several restaurants also accepted crypto payments. Nevertheless, after a 2022 joint public hearing between Thai SEC and Bank of Thailand (BOT), the Thai SEC banned crypto payment for goods and services.
Local progress of cryptocurrencies
Thailand faced a major development when BOT allowed banks to set up a branch to invest in or issue cryptocurrencies in 2018. In that year, there were 22
newly established crypto firms in Thailand despite the decrease in number in recent years. Following the failed acquisition of Bitkub by SCB X, the FTX scandal, and Zipmex being out of the picture, Bitkub stayed dominant in the Thai market.
Thailand’s cryptocurrency trading volume has grown in line with the global trend. A 2021 survey showed that over 69 percent of
Thai investors were aware of cryptocurrencies. That same year,
the coins with the most search interest in Thailand were Ethereum (ETH) and DogeCoin (DOGE). Since January 2022, individual Thai traders have contributed most of the crypto trade volume in Thailand. Moreover, another survey conducted in February 2022 found that many
e-commerce vendors in Thailand planned to accept cryptocurrencies among other online payment types within two years.
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