Thai SEC Warns The Public About 14 Unauthorized Companies
This week, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand has alerted the public against 14 sites whose operators have been hustling clients to buy and sell cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency related products.
The regulator states that these operators are not authorized to run crypto businesses within the country. Nonetheless, up to just seven firms have been approved for crypto operations, but just for the time being.
This past Friday, the Thai SEC released a warning against 14 websites whose operators have not been authorized to run cryptocurrency business in the Southeast Asian nation. The SEC detailed that it has received complaints about these businesses which have been encouraging the public to buy and sell cryptocurrencies through social media. In addition to that, the regulator warned the public to take caution when solicited to purchase or sell digital assets by unlicensed individuals.
These 14 websites being referred to are payniex.com, misterchanger.com, thaiexchanger.com, egtexchange.com, digicardshop.com, superrichexchanger.com, emoneythai.com, i-exch.com, exchangercoin.com, gamershoppings.com, ecurrencyplus.com, ecurrencythailand.com, lnwexchanger.com, and R Exchange’s Facebook page. Some of these websites have removed their crypto offerings after the commission’s warning.
On the 18th of November, one of the operators on the list called R Exchange announced that its kiosk at Bangkok’s main airport, Suvarnabhumi, had begun offering the exchange of seven cryptocurrencies. These seven cryptocurrencies mentioned are BTC, BCH, ETH, ETC, LTC, XRP, and XLM. Also, the announcement notes that a withholding tax of 15 percent will apply.
As stated in Thailand’s cryptocurrency regulations which went into effect back in May notes that companies wanting to conduct crypto business in the country must obtain approval from the Thai SEC, the country’s main regulator. The commission repeated that no digital asset operator or issuer has been granted full approval.
According to the regulator’s website, six of them are crypto exchanges: Bitcoin Co. Ltd. (Bx), Bitkub Online Co. Ltd., Cash2coins, Satang Corporation (Tdax), Coin Asset Co. Ltd., and Southeast Asia Digital Exchange Co. Ltd. (Seadex). One company, Coins Th, has been temporarily approved as a crypto dealer. Tdax restructured as Satang Pro back in September. At the moment, the firm is working on launching a new wallet and “the first digital asset payment platform in Thailand that allows the customers to buy, sell, pay for utility services, and top-up their mobile phones and gift cards,” as detailed on its website.
Additionally, in the early stages of November, the Thai SEC warned against a couple of companies promoting their crypto exchange businesses in the country without being approved. Amongst these companies are South Korean exchanges Q Exchanges and Coin25.
