Thai SEC bans the use of customer crypto assets for lending and investment

Investor protection regulations have been under discussion since September 2022 amid the crypto lending crisis that saw firms such as BlockFi and Celsius declare bankruptcy.

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has issued new rules for digital asset service providers focusing on investor protection.

The new guidelines require digital asset service providers to offer adequate warnings highlighting risks associated with cryptocurrency trading. All platforms must display a message that reads:

“Cryptocurrencies are high risk. Please study and understand the risks of cryptocurrencies thoroughly, because you may lose the entire investment amount.”

The warning message must be clearly visible, and before customers can use the service the business operator must arrange for the service users to give consent and acknowledge such risks before using the service.

Apart from a trading risks disclaimer, the new guidelines also prohibit service providers from using customer’s funds for lending or investment.

The Thai SEC has banned crypto lending services, thus prohibiting crypto platforms from offering any form of return on deposited crypto by customers. This would increase protection for investors from the risks of such lending services. The new regulations are set to come into effect from July 31, 2023.

The discussion around new regulations for investor protection began on September 1, 2022, when the SEC approved the need for security warnings by cryptocurrency business operators to disclose the risks of trading cryptocurrencies. The rules that prohibit digital asset business operators from providing services or supporting deposit-taking and lending services were discussed during meetings on December 1, 2022, and May 11, 2023.

The new investor protection rules come in the wake of the massive crypto lending crisis during the bear market in 2022. A significant chunk of crypto lending firms, who collected billions in customer deposits by promising hefty returns, went bust during the bear market. Leading lending firms, including Celsius and BlockFi, filed for bankruptcy – resulting in investor money getting stuck in bankruptcy proceedings.

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