Thailand is reportedly planning to hold a public hearing on the use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment for goods and services.
The Bank of Thailand, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Finance Ministry jointly released a statement on Tuesday stating that “digital asset business operators have expanded their operations to include services related to the use of digital assets as a means of payment for goods and services.”
However, the presence of digital asset business operators in this manner may result in the widespread adoption of digital assets for payment of products and services in addition to investment purposes. It would have an effect on the financial system’s stability and the overall economy.
To further mitigate risk to the country’s financial sector, the BOT, SEC, and Finance Ministry examined the benefits and risks of digital assets and determined that it was necessary to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment for goods and services and to prohibit payment via digital assets. The SEC is set to hold a public hearing through February 8 prior to announcing the digital asset law. Following that, businesses will have 15 days to comply with the rules; any that continue to take digital assets as payment will face prosecution.
Asia Plus Securities believes this will have negative sentiment on ICO portal players (KBANK, SCB, XPG, CGH) since it may restrict digital asset issuance. Companies accepting cryptocurrencies as payment (SIRI, ANAN, ORI, MJD, MAJOR) will be affected, but their profit will be hardly affected since a small number of consumers pay with digital assets. Companies directly investing in cryptocurrency or bitcoin miners will be severely affected.
