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Thailand authorities planned to reduce the online crime rates and ordered a ban on illegal and unauthorized crypto exchanges.
Inspired by India and the Philippines, Thailand announced the blocking of crypto exchanges that are operating illegally. The upsurge in online crime rates and using digital assets for fraudulent acts raised the need to block unlicensed crypto exchanges.
Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the same and warned users to withdraw their assets from unauthorized exchanges.
Thailand’s Plan To Block Crypto Exchange
On April 19, Mrs. Pornanong Busaratrakul, Secretary-General of the SEC, announced the ban on unauthorized crypto exchanges operating in Thailand. The order comes just after the Technology Crime Prevention and Suppression Committee meeting.
To enhance the efficiency of regulatory bodies in mitigating online crime issues, Busaratrakul announced the block of unauthorized crypto exchanges. As a successive step, the SEC was ordered to submit a complete list and information on unauthorized exchanges to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.
Before the announcement, the Thai SEC also considered actions by countries including India and the Philippines. India banned approximately 9 exchanges, including Binance, Huobi, Kraken, KuCoin, Bitfinex, etc., and the Philippines closed its doors to Binance.
Thailand Commission is anticipating establishing a balance between the crypto market and mitigating fraudulent acts. Moreover, the SEC will reveal the list soon and warn individuals to withdraw their assets from unauthorized exchanges.
On the other hand, the Commission suggested that institutional investors and rich personalities invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Furthermore, retail investors can invest without limits in digital tokens backed by real estate.
Additionally, the SEC urged investors to investigate the license registrations of the exchanges before making any investment. According to government data, Binance, OKX, Coinbase, KuCoin, and Kraken are a few of the exchanges operating illegally in Thailand.
Online Crime Rates In Crypto Market
Cryptocurrency hacking and illicit activity are common in the digital realm and continuously evolving with time. According to Chainalysis Crypto Crime Report, 2022 was the biggest year for crypto theft.
According to the data, hackers have attempted over 200 hacks and stole around $3.7 Billion in crypto. In 2021, the number of hacks was high, but the total crypto value stolen was around $3.3 Billion. However, a sharp decline was experienced in online crimes in 2023.
Only $1.8 Billion was stolen in 2023, with around 231 hack attempts.
Furthermore, most hacks occurred in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and centralized service. In 2022, around 15% of the hacks were attempted on Centralized services, whereas approximately 75% of the hacks tools were placed on DeFi.
Thankfully, the hack attempts in the field of DeFi declined in 2023, dropping by 75% to over 55%. Additionally, online crimes in the centralized services surged to 26%. Moreover, November 2023 was a golden month for the scammers. The hacking team somehow managed to steal over $350 Million.
Additionally, January 2023 and October 2023 were cold months for the scammers as they generated less than $10 Million in respective months.
With a background in journalism, Ritika Sharma has worked with many reputed media firms focusing on general news such as politics and crime. She joined The Coin Republic as a reporter for crypto, and found a great passion for cryptocurrency, Web3, NFTs and other digital assets. She spends a lot of time researching and delving deeper into these concepts around the clock, and is a strong advocate for women in STEM.
