Thailand Expands Anti-Money-Laundering Watch on Stablecoins Amid ‘Grey Money’ Crackdown
Bangkok intensifies oversight of digital assets including USDT as part of a unified effort to block illicit flows across traditional and crypto markets
Thailand’s government has intensified scrutiny of stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT as part of a broader campaign against so-called “grey money” and illicit financial activity that spans gold, digital assets and other unconventional value channels.
Authorities are moving to bring traditionally separate markets, including cryptocurrencies and physical gold trading, under a unified regulatory framework to strengthen anti-money-laundering enforcement and close loopholes that have enabled opaque capital flows outside the formal banking system.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered a coordinated response to evolving criminal methods that exploit fragmented oversight, emphasising the need to protect the public interest and the integrity of Thailand’s financial system.
The government plans to establish a national data hub that will integrate real-time monitoring and risk profiling of suspicious transactions across asset classes.
Under the new approach, regulators will tighten reporting requirements and enforce the Financial Action Task Force–aligned “Travel Rule” to ensure that licensed crypto asset service providers collect and transmit identifying information about both senders and recipients of digital asset transfers, including those involving stablecoins such as USDT.
This is aimed at reducing the use of digital tokens to obscure the sources and destinations of illicit funds.
The crackdown reflects rising concern among Thai regulators about the potential exploitation of digital assets in money-laundering and other financial crimes.
Stablecoins, by design pegged to fiat currencies, have been integrated into Thailand’s regulated crypto market following official approval of USDT and USDC for trading on licensed exchanges.
However, the new focus highlights that even approved digital currencies are now subject to enhanced oversight as authorities seek to prevent misuse.
In parallel, the Anti-Money Laundering Office has moved to lower reporting thresholds for physical gold purchases after finding patterns of smaller transactions used to evade detection.
By folding these diverse channels into a single surveillance model, Thailand’s government is signalling that digital assets are no longer treated as isolated or peripheral in its financial crime prevention strategy.
Authorities are moving to bring traditionally separate markets, including cryptocurrencies and physical gold trading, under a unified regulatory framework to strengthen anti-money-laundering enforcement and close loopholes that have enabled opaque capital flows outside the formal banking system.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered a coordinated response to evolving criminal methods that exploit fragmented oversight, emphasising the need to protect the public interest and the integrity of Thailand’s financial system.
The government plans to establish a national data hub that will integrate real-time monitoring and risk profiling of suspicious transactions across asset classes.
Under the new approach, regulators will tighten reporting requirements and enforce the Financial Action Task Force–aligned “Travel Rule” to ensure that licensed crypto asset service providers collect and transmit identifying information about both senders and recipients of digital asset transfers, including those involving stablecoins such as USDT.
This is aimed at reducing the use of digital tokens to obscure the sources and destinations of illicit funds.
The crackdown reflects rising concern among Thai regulators about the potential exploitation of digital assets in money-laundering and other financial crimes.
Stablecoins, by design pegged to fiat currencies, have been integrated into Thailand’s regulated crypto market following official approval of USDT and USDC for trading on licensed exchanges.
However, the new focus highlights that even approved digital currencies are now subject to enhanced oversight as authorities seek to prevent misuse.
In parallel, the Anti-Money Laundering Office has moved to lower reporting thresholds for physical gold purchases after finding patterns of smaller transactions used to evade detection.
By folding these diverse channels into a single surveillance model, Thailand’s government is signalling that digital assets are no longer treated as isolated or peripheral in its financial crime prevention strategy.
