Bank of Thailand tightens stablecoin surveillance, targets illicit finance

Coordinated crackdown on gray money

The Bank of Thailand is collaborating with the Securities and Exchange Commission to audit high-value stablecoin activities. The focus includes monitoring transactions involving USDT (Tether), as well as other large cash and currency exchange operations. Authorities seek to identify and disrupt channels used by criminal organizations to transfer funds, particularly those related to the so-called “gray economy.”

Governor Vitai Ratanakorn emphasized that these measures require ongoing and coordinated efforts. In a statement highlighted by local newspaper The Nation, he explained that, “The measures we are implementing are not short-term fixes; they require the continuous deployment of multiple parallel strategies.”

Bank of Thailand Governor Vitai Ratanakorn underscored that the current initiatives need sustained multi-faceted action, reflecting the complexity and scale of illicit flows within Thailand’s economy.

Authorities have classified the gray economy as including funds from sources such as scam call centers, which have proliferated throughout the region. In 2025, scam losses reached 115 billion THB ($3.4 billion), and officials recorded around 173 million fraudulent calls and texts during the year. However, comprehensive data on the full extent of gray money circulating in Thailand remains elusive.

Expansion of oversight and compliance

Stablecoins have become increasingly popular for transferring large sums internationally due to their speed and ease of settlement. In response, the new regulatory measures extend compliance requirements for commercial banks, currency exchanges, and gold traders. The central bank seeks to block regulated financial institutions from facilitating corruption or enabling shadow financial activities through these assets.

The expansion covers cash networks, currency exchange businesses, and suspicious stablecoin dealings, signaling a multi-layered approach to tighten controls across the financial system. Past efforts included similar collaborations between banks and regulators to freeze accounts associated with questionable activities.

Mini dictionary: The Bank of Thailand serves as the country’s central bank and is responsible for maintaining monetary stability, financial institution soundness, and overseeing payment systems.

Market impact and regulatory landscape

While Thailand is considered a welcoming environment for digital assets, stablecoin and cryptocurrency-based payments remain prohibited by the Bank of Thailand. Regulators continue to tighten oversight of crypto businesses, even as trading itself remains legal.

Bitkub, the largest digital asset exchange operating in Thailand, processes around $26 million in daily trading volume. Reports from market aggregator CoinGecko indicate that nearly 40% of this activity involves foreign exchange pairs, with USDT/THB being the leading pair among traders.

In 2025, Thai banks implemented sweeping measures that led to the freezing of three million bank accounts as part of efforts to clamp down on mule accounts and suspicious transactions. Although designed to curb illegal capital movement, these actions inadvertently affected thousands of legitimate businesses and individuals, drawing criticism for being overly broad.

Ongoing vigilance amid evolving threats

Thai regulators remain to the changing tactics of financial criminals. The partnership between the Bank of Thailand and the Securities and Exchange Commission highlights ongoing vigilance and a readiness to adapt policies in response to new threats.

Authorities reaffirmed their commitment to practical, long-term strategies rather than relying on short-term solutions to tackle illicit finance and the gray money problem.