Thai SEC says investors should have crypto trading experience

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has clarified its guidelines to stipulate that those trading cryptocurrencies in the country should have some foundational knowledge.

In a Facebook Live video from the Thai SEC today, secretary-general Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol said the regulatory body’s proposed guidelines now say that people interested in investing in digital assets must have previous experience in crypto trading. She added that those new to the market should attend a cryptocurrency trading training course or pass a test to prove their knowledge.

Suwanmongkol said that the commission was organizing a free training course called Crypto 101 for investors who have no experience trading in cryptocurrencies. However, the measure of a traders’ abilities will reportedly not be based on income or financial status, but rather how they manage investment portfolios.

The panel follows an announcement from the Thai SEC last month, in which a draft document hinted the commission would be imposing a 1 million baht — roughly $32,000 — minimum annual income requirement for crypto investment in the country. Many crypto users in Thailand reacted in outrage to the proposal, claiming that it would exclude low- and middle-income earners from the crypto market.

Responding to the public, Suwanmongkol walked back the SEC’s position, said the draft was intended to gauge public opinion, and announced that the regulatory body would be holding a hearing on crypto investments. Today’s Facebook Live panel revealed the results of that hearing, and implied that crypto education would be taking the place of the annual income requirement.

Thailand has had a complicated relationship with crypto. The country’s tourism board is targeting Japanese crypto holders, seemingly in an effort to revive the tourism industry during the pandemic. While Thailand-based crypto exchange Upbit received approval from the SEC this year, the regulatory body forced Bitkub to briefly close to fix issues regarding several recent outages during periods of high demand.