The Central bank tells Thai commercial banks not to offer crypto trading
Commercial Banks in Thailand are not allowed to directly be involved with the trading of crypto assets, as stated by the Bank of Thailand. The senior director of the central bank of Thailand gave this decree on December 7, and according to him, there is much risk associated with the price volatility.
He went on to explain the reason stating that the banks are mainly responsible for the deposits from customers, and if these banks directly involve themselves with the trading of crypto assets, the customers and general public will be at risk.
According to the Bangkok Post, the ban from the Central Bank of Thailand arrived at the time when the commercial banks have involved themselves with the trading of crypto assets by investing through the local crypto exchanges.
It is true that commercial banks in Thailand have involved themselves with cryptocurrency. Siam Commercial Bank, which is Thailand’s oldest bank, acquired the 51 percent stake of Thailand’s largest crypto exchange platform, Bitkub, in early November. As another instance, Bank of Ayudhya, the fifth-largest bank of the country, has funded 1.3 million dollars to Zipmex, a crypto exchange platform. Despite the growing popularity of crypto assets among the country’s companies, banks and individuals, the Bank of Thailand has continued to take tough stances.
The economy of Thailand is heavily dependent upon its tourism industry that have faced major drawbacks due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the places in the country are still facing lockdowns, and the ministry of tourism has taken some stance to attract foreign tourists.
The warning from the Bank of Thailand has arrived a fortnight after the country’s ministry of tourism encouraged the crypto-rich people to visit the country, but the central bank doesn’t want to accept digital currencies in the country despite the effort from Tourism Authority of Thailand calling the country “crypto-friendly”.
