Thailand Drafts 5 Million Baht Daily Cap on Stablecoin Transfers

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission wants to limit how many stablecoins a person can move in and out of a licensed crypto platform: 5 million baht (about $148,000) each way, per day, per platform. The draft rules were published Thursday, and comments are due Nov. 26.

The SEC says the goal is to stop money laundering and to stop people from using stablecoins to get around Thailand's rules on sending money abroad. It first floated the plan in a September consultation.

Your wallet, and only your wallet

A stablecoin is a crypto token pegged to a currency such as the U.S. dollar, and it can cross borders in minutes without a bank wire. That is the gap the regulator is closing. Under the draft, a customer could deposit stablecoins only from a wallet verified as their own, and withdraw only to one verified the same way. Sending to or receiving from someone else's wallet through a licensed platform would be banned.

Both ends would also have to meet the Travel Rule, the global standard that makes crypto firms collect and pass on sender and recipient details. Platforms would have to screen out mule accounts and run blockchain-tracing tools against watchlisted wallets. Transfer sizes would also have to fit the customer's income and finances, cap or no cap.

Four groups skip the limit

The 5 million baht ceiling would not apply to licensed operators moving coins in their own name, businesses the Bank of Thailand has approved case by case to use stablecoins, market makers in stablecoin/baht pairs, and subscriptions or refunds for SEC-approved token offerings. Moves between a customer's own accounts at two Thai licensed platforms aren't capped either, as long as both apply the Travel Rule, the SEC said.

The rules cover licensed platforms only. Purely peer-to-peer transfers on a blockchain fall outside them, The Block reported.

The SEC has not set an effective date.

In our opinion: the cap gets the headline, but the own-wallet rule is the bigger change. The limit only bites above about $148,000 a day, while the own-wallet rule covers every transfer, so splitting a dinner bill in USDT through a Thai exchange would be off the menu. Nov. 26 is the date to circle, and the final notice will show whether the list of exemptions grows.