Veerathai Santiprabhob, Governor of the Central Bank of Thailand, asked all banks Thai to stay away from cryptocurrency 13.

According to Reuters, the central bank issued Monday a circular banning Thai banks from investing and negotiating crypto, as well as to participate and create exchanges and encryption platforms. banks, not trade or other services, which are still allowed to operate freely in the country.

Banks were also asked not to advise customers about crypto investment or trade, and to prohibit customers from using credit cards. crypto shopping. Several major banks around the world have already instituted a similar ban on crypto card purchases last week, while crypto markets have fallen to record lows of several months.

Explaining their reasoning for the ban of banks. dealing with crypto, The Bank of Thailand raised concerns about digital currencies used for illegal activities, such as money laundering or terrorist activities, and noted that cryptocurrencies had not legal tender in the country

The Thai Finance Minister, Apisak Tantivorawong, said on February 7 that the Thai government would not ban encryption, but would work to implement in place of a regulatory framework for digital currencies, reported the Bangkok Post. The Bank of Thailand's circular can be considered as an alert bank before this regulatory framework can be put in place.

In September 2017, the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC Thailand) also announced Offers of Coins (ICO) by implementing regulations that would protect investors from fraud. Yesterday SEC Secretary General, Rapee Sucharitakul, said that the SEC did not have the ability to block crypto transactions as they are traded via online platforms, but that it would attempt to avoid it. educate investors to protect them against scams.

The Thai Finance Ministry said on February 2 that the Bank of Thailand and the SEC Thailand should warn customers to invest in crypto-markets, but that Blockchain technology could be useful to the industry. Thai financial.

The Central Bank of Thailand had previously held a meeting with co-founder Ethereum (ETH), Vitalik Buterin, in August 2017 on the future possibility of integrating Ethereum into the Thai financial sector for improve the efficiency of existing infrastructures.