Thailand Expands USDT Surveillance in Grey-Economy Crackdown

USDT activity draws regulatory attention

The review is focused heavily on USDT because it is widely used to trade and transfer substantial amounts of value and can move outside traditional bank-transfer infrastructure. Authorities are examining how individual users may be moving the token rather than alleging that Tether participated in suspicious transactions.

USDT is a major trading instrument in Thailand’s digital-asset market. The USDT/THB pair was the most-traded market on Bitkub, identified in the information as the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Approximately 40% of Bitkub’s daily turnover of nearly $26 million was attributed to foreign-exchange-related market activity. The estimate was presented as third-party market context and was not identified as a figure supplied by the Bank of Thailand.

The surveillance initiative does not constitute a general cryptocurrency-trading ban. Cryptocurrency trading remains legal in Thailand, although the Bank of Thailand continues to prohibit stablecoins and other digital assets from being used as ordinary payment methods for goods and services.

Thailand is also developing regulated digital-asset markets. The Thai SEC’s three-year development plan supports tokenization and cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, while the Bank of Thailand is working on a baht-backed stablecoin as part of a broader financial-infrastructure modernization effort.

Those initiatives place regulated investment products and possible domestic currency-backed digital infrastructure alongside tighter controls on private stablecoins when they are used to obscure financial flows or operate as substitutes for bank transfers and cash.

We’ve launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!

Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.

Cash and gold controls widen

The stablecoin review is one component of a wider campaign targeting money associated with scams, illegal gambling, laundering networks, unreported commerce and other activity outside ordinary banking, taxation and disclosure controls.

Vitai described the initiative as a sustained effort involving several complementary measures. “The measures being implemented are not short-term fixes but require multiple ongoing, complementary actions,” he said.

Since April 2026, Thai banks have been required to examine the stated purpose of cash withdrawals of 5 million baht or more, equivalent to approximately $150,000. The Bank of Thailand said withdrawals at or above the threshold subsequently declined by approximately 35%.

Starting in the fourth quarter of 2026, customers making cash deposits of at least the same baht threshold may be required to provide full source-of-funds information. The planned rule would extend enhanced scrutiny from money leaving bank accounts to large amounts of physical cash entering the banking system.

Authorities are also monitoring people who exchange large quantities of high-denomination banknotes for smaller bills without a clear business purpose. Such activity is being examined for potential efforts to fragment cash holdings or prepare funds for distribution through illicit networks.

Gold transactions have become another enforcement focus after officials observed buyers placing orders through mobile applications in the morning and collecting physical gold from shops later that day. Suspicious gold-related transactions are now reported to Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office.

Monthly physical gold withdrawals declined sharply after monitoring was strengthened, according to the disclosed information.

Mule accounts and crypto laundering cases

Thai banks have closed thousands of mule accounts associated with online gambling. Such accounts are opened, purchased, rented or controlled to receive and forward funds for criminal networks, separating illicit proceeds from their original source.

The current initiative follows an aggressive account-freezing campaign that caught legitimate individuals and businesses alongside suspected criminal accounts. Local coverage characterized the earlier crackdown as having “gone wrong,” highlighting the risk that broad transaction controls can create false positives and disrupt lawful activity.

That experience remains relevant to the stablecoin audit because large transactions may also arise from legitimate trading, treasury management, arbitrage, remittances or commercial payments. The information did not specify what safeguards authorities will use to distinguish lawful high-volume activity from deliberate laundering.

Recent investigations have reinforced official concern about crypto-enabled financial crime. Thai police traced a romance-scam laundering network that allegedly moved proceeds through multiple cryptocurrencies and used cross-chain swaps to make the transaction trail more difficult to follow.

The romance-scam case was connected to Interpol’s Operation First Light, an international effort targeting online financial fraud and scam networks. Investigators said one wallet linked to a suspect processed an unusually large volume during the period under review.

Thai authorities have separately expanded an investigation into cryptocurrency-mining operations connected to an alleged Chinese money-laundering network. Another enforcement action resulted in the seizure of illegal mining equipment that had been used to support scam compounds.

These investigations cover more than token transfers. Authorities are examining bank accounts, exchanges, blockchain transactions, cross-chain activity, physical cash, gold purchases and mining infrastructure as potentially connected channels for moving or disguising illicit funds.

Enforcement criteria remain undisclosed

The Bank of Thailand has not published the detection rules used to classify a stablecoin transaction as abnormal. The analytics appear intended to identify transaction structuring rather than apply only a single size threshold, but the precise warning signs were not disclosed.

Potential indicators described in the consolidated information included repeated transfers below reporting limits, rapid movement through several accounts, unusual conversions between baht and USDT, and activity inconsistent with a customer’s normal payment behavior. Those examples were not presented as confirmed formal criteria issued by the central bank.

Crypto exchanges operating in Thailand could face stronger expectations to monitor high-volume USDT/THB transactions, investigate transaction purposes, retain customer and wallet records, and submit suspicious-activity information when required. No new exchange-specific compliance order was announced.

Banks interacting with digital-asset platforms may similarly face closer examination of customers who repeatedly transfer substantial baht amounts into or out of exchange-linked accounts when the activity does not match their income, business profile or previous banking behavior.

The jurisdictional overlap reflects the dual use of stablecoins. Thailand treats them as digital assets under securities oversight, but they can also be used as cross-border transfer instruments, foreign-currency substitutes and stores of value outside ordinary bank-payment channels.

Authorities have not said when the current review will be completed or when the SEC will decide whether any flagged transactions merit enforcement. They also have not identified specific customers, businesses or platforms as targets of formal action.