Thailand to Ban Crypto Lending and Staking
- Once implemented, the new rules will prohibit crypto companies from taking a deposit of digital assets with a promise to pay returns to depositors.
- The Thai SEC has now opened a public hearing regarding the planned ban on crypto lending and staking, and will be collecting opinions until 17 October.
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Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission is planning to ban crypto businesses from providing support for staking and lending services in the country, the regulator said in a press release on 15 September.
According to the announcement, the government agency had already approved a proposal at the start of September, agreeing to restrict cryptocurrency-based businesses from providing and supporting digital asset depository services. Thailand’s SEC has now invited industry participants and individuals to express their opinion on the matter, with the public hearing process closing on 17 October.
The proposed rules will ban companies from taking digital asset deposits intended to be used for loans, as well as for services that promise to pay returns to the depositors in the future. The SEC also intends to ban the advertising and soliciting of such services to the general public.
Once implemented, the new rules will basically prohibit “digital asset business operators” from providing any staking and lending services in the country, a move intended to protect investors and the general public from the “risks of such transactions”. Thailand decided to take such radical measures in response to the crypto market meltdown from earlier this year, which saw companies such as Celsius Network and Voyager Digital freeze withdrawals, and eventually file for bankruptcy.
This is not the first time this year the Thai SEC decided to implement stricter crypto rules, having banned the use of cryptocurrency as a means for payment for goods and services in the country back in March. At the time, the regulator cited market volatility, cyber theft, personal data leakage, and money laundering concerns as the reasons behind the new rules.
- These documents are seen as central in Ripple’s battle against the SEC, which in 2020 accused the company of selling its XRP token without registering it as a security.
- The documents in question are internal emails, text messages, and expert reports that followed Hinman’s 2018 speech, in which he said ETH and BTC were not securities.
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- The U.S. SEC claimed in its response that it was under no obligation to issue new regulations for crypto, and that rules for crypto were already published and were sufficient.
- The agency also tried to distance itself from any public comments made by its chair Gary Gensler, particularly regarding his statement that most cryptocurrencies are securities.
- The cryptocurrency exchange is estimated to have more than 100,000 creditors, and between $500 million and $1 billion in both assets and liabilities.
- The Chapter 11 filing came less than a month after the U.S. SEC filed charges against Bittrex and its former CEO, claiming they were operating an unregistered securities exchange.