New Thai Cryptocurrency Law to Mandate Physical Presence for Account Opening

The government of Thailand has imposed a new cryptocurrency law, which would require new users to be physically present for registration on exchanges. The Thai Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) noted that the new law will take effect starting from July and that verification of identities will be done using dip-chip machines.

Presently, crypto account opening on exchanges is done entirely online. All new users have to do is comply with the regulations set by the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for know-your-customer (KYC) requirements and suitability tests.

Subsequently, the KYC documents must be authorized by relevant government agencies, and fake documents will get promptly rejected.

Poramin Insom, co-founder and director of crypto trading platform Satang Corp., explained that:

“Digital asset exchanges have a duty to report any transaction worth over 1.8 million baht [$58,000] under the money laundering law, and must set up a database for inspections by regulators.”

The Anti-Money Laundering Act came into law in 1999 and mandates financial businesses and legal professionals, like investment advisers and real estate brokerages, to file all transactions that meet the requirement of the law. The entities are also required to keep documentation and transaction data from as far as 5-10 years as evidence.

Thai Gold Shops Already Use Dip-Chip Verification for Customers
Meanwhile, more than 6,000 gold shops across Thailand will require customers to present their ID cards when purchasing or selling gold worth over 100,000 baht ($3,200) in cash.

Thanarat Pasawongse, the chief executive of Hua Seng Heng, asserted that most large gold shops have been using dip-chip machines to verify the identity of customers for over four years because of the convenience it allows.

That said, customers are required to present a valid ID for cash transactions over 100,000 baht ($3,200). Also, a report should get filed with AMLO for transactions over 2 million baht ($64,000), and businesses must report suspicious transactions to the authority.

 

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