As most countries of the world are approaching cryptocurrencies with a question mark, Thailand has gone ahead and legalised cryptocurrencies. The country has even written a new law via emergency orders and commands, instead of fitting cryptocurrencies in their existing securities laws.
The new law introduced by the Thai authorities skips the debate and jumps the queue to establish the cryptocurrency market in Thailand firmly and strongly. The Thai government also revised its tax law so it can extract some revenue from the growing crypto industry.
Everything that's new and progressing needs to be regulated; even the world of cryptocurrencies is maturing with new guidelines and laws being introduced. This step by the Thai government has invited some harsh criticism as well. The more conservative elements of the world are seeing negative points in giving this new way of transaction and new form of money any kind of credibility.
As reported by Live Trading News, at last month’s TechSauce conference in Bangkok, Archari Suppiroj, director of the commission’s Fintech department, said, “Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission is working to strike a balance between those who view cryptocurrencies as evil and those who use them for gambling.”
At present, seeing things as they stand, the probability is that if regulators make it too strict for the people, citizens will start moving overseas and Thailand’s ability to offer any investor protection will be compromised.
A very interesting feature about Thailand’s new regulations is that all ICOs (Initial Coin Offering) and trades must be paired with 1 of 7 specified cryptocurrencies. The list includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin cash, Ethereum classic, Litecoin, Ripple and Stellar. According to Archari Suppiroj, they were selected, because of their liquidity and convertibility to the Thai baht.
