Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed requiring stablecoin transfers through licensed crypto firms to take place only between wallets or accounts owned by the same customer.
The measure, which remains under public consultation and is not yet in force, would affect assets such as USDT. Under principles approved by the SEC Board on Sept. 3, deposits into a customer’s account at a digital asset operator would have to come from a wallet or account verified as belonging to that customer. Withdrawals would also have to be sent to an account or wallet confirmed as the customer’s own.
That would prevent users from depositing stablecoins sent by another person or withdrawing them to somebody else’s wallet through a Thai SEC-supervised platform.
The proposed condition would apply to transfers involving supervised digital asset operators. Peer-to-peer transactions carried out entirely outside those firms would not be covered by the ownership requirement.
The SEC is also proposing that transfer amounts match a customer’s stated source of income and financial position. Incoming and outgoing stablecoin transfers would generally be limited to 5 million baht per person, per operator, each day.
There would be exemptions from that daily limit for transfers between customer accounts held with SEC-supervised operators, provided both firms comply with the Travel Rule. The Sept. 11 consultation document also identifies exemptions for certain operator business transfers, specified operators authorised by the Bank of Thailand, and stablecoin/baht market makers.
However, it is not clear whether those exemptions from the value cap would also remove the separate same-owner requirement. Further details could be added during the consultation process.
The SEC said it had developed the proposals after recording substantial growth in the volume and value of stablecoin transactions, particularly those involving USDT. It linked some of the activity to risks involving money laundering, cybercrime and attempts to bypass rules governing international money transfers.
The proposed ownership test would operate separately from Thailand’s finalised Travel Rule. That framework requires digital asset operators to collect information on the parties involved in transfers, check counterparties and verify ownership or control of certain self-hosted wallets. It is due to take effect on Feb. 27, 2027.
The stablecoin proposal would impose an additional condition when a transfer crosses the boundary of a licensed operator: any external wallet or account sending or receiving the funds would need to belong to the platform’s customer, rather than another individual.
The SEC opened its public consultation on Sept. 11, with responses due by Sept. 25, 2026. No effective date has been announced for the proposed stablecoin restrictions, meaning the same-owner requirement remains only a proposal until final rules are issued.
