Thailand SEC drafts 5 million baht daily stablecoin cap

What happened

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled draft rules on Nov. 12 that would impose a daily ceiling of 5 million baht, roughly $148,000, on stablecoin deposits and withdrawals. The cap would be applied per customer at each regulated crypto operator, with incoming and outgoing transfers counted separately rather than combined. The SEC said the proposal is intended to reduce money-laundering and cybercrime risks and to stop digital assets from being used to evade cross-border money-transfer rules.

Under the draft, customers would have to use accounts or wallets that they own. Operators would verify that the sending wallet for a deposit, or the receiving wallet for a withdrawal, belongs to the same customer. Transfers to or from another person's wallet through an operator would be prohibited. The proposal also calls for customer profiling and screening, adherence to the Travel Rule for transfer information, and blockchain analytics to trace flows and flag high-risk or watchlisted wallets.

The draft includes several carve-outs. A customer moving stablecoins between their own accounts at SEC-supervised operators could avoid the daily cap if both firms comply with the Travel Rule. Other exemptions cover digital asset operators handling business-purpose transfers through accounts in their own names, Bank of Thailand-supervised businesses with specific approval to use stablecoins, market makers for stablecoin-baht pairs, and qualifying subscriptions and refunds for SEC-approved token offerings. Transfer amounts would still need to be consistent with the customer's income and financial position.

The proposal also reaches market structure. Exchanges would have to name their market makers and identify the assets for which those firms supply liquidity. Brokers would be barred from using liquidity providers for stablecoin-baht pairs, while certain off-platform trades handled by brokers and dealers would have a minimum size of 3 million baht. Brokers would publish trading prices and could not arrange off-platform trades directly between customers. Public comments are open until Nov. 26, 2026.

Why it matters

The draft would extend stablecoin oversight beyond transaction size to the ownership of wallets and the identity of counterparties. That matters because the SEC said stablecoin flows can be used for money laundering, cybercrime and attempts to bypass cross-border transfer rules. The ownership checks and Travel Rule requirements would place more compliance work on regulated Thai operators, while the daily ceilings would affect customers who move larger stablecoin amounts through those platforms. The exemptions indicate that the regulator is trying to preserve some business, market-making and token-offering transfers while tightening ordinary customer flows.

What the data shows

Key figures in the draft include the 5 million baht daily cap, equivalent to about $148,000, applied separately to deposits and withdrawals per customer at each operator. Certain off-platform trades would have a 3 million baht minimum. The consultation period runs until Nov. 26, 2026. The draft would allow the SEC to order operators to correct failures in collecting or disclosing required information within a specified period.

Background

The proposal follows a September consultation in which the SEC sought views on stablecoin transfer limits and tighter oversight of crypto operators. Feedback from that consultation was incorporated into the draft notification. The regulator had also proposed Travel Rule requirements covering the collection, verification and retention of information connected with crypto transfers.

Stablecoin scrutiny predates the latest draft. In July, the Bank of Thailand and the SEC began examining high-value stablecoin transactions, with local reporting at the time citing concerns about unusual USDT activity and transfers that might bypass financial reporting requirements. Thailand is also involved in cross-border settlement work through Singapore's BLOOM initiative; the Bank of Thailand joined in October alongside Malaysia's central bank, with Circle and Coinbase among existing participants. That project covers regulated stablecoins and tokenized deposits.

What to watch

The immediate next step is the consultation, with comments accepted through the SEC website, Thailand's Legal Hub and designated email addresses until Nov. 26, 2026. The consulted text will shape how the exemptions are applied and how operators carry out wallet-ownership checks, Travel Rule reporting and blockchain analytics. Market participants may also watch how the rules interact with Thailand's separate work on cross-border stablecoin settlement through the BLOOM initiative.

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