Crypto experts in Thailand worry about new rules for opening accounts at crypto exchanges

• Country’s regulators gearing up to tighten new rules on account opening

Charles Abuede

Come July 2021, crypto exchanges in Thailand will be required to use a dip-chip machine for identity verification as the country’s financial watchdogs are warming up for the introduction of new policies which will see these exchanges very users’ identity in person. This move is said to lead all users that want to open digital accounts to visit exchanges physically while players are of the view that the Thai crypto space will inhibit the growth of the budding sector.

Poramin Insom, the co-founder and director at Thai crypto exchange Satang Corp, in a statement, said most exchanges for the digital assets across Thailand are still busy gearing up their systems to accommodate the influx of clients as new account applications continue to flow in and also citing that if the application process becomes more complicated, it might inhibit the growth of the crypto space.

As it was reported by various news outlets, Thailand had 697,780 crypto exchanges as of April 26, a steep rise from 160,000 at the end of 2020. While the move by Thai’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), seeks to ensure that crypto exchanges get accurate KYC information from new users as cryptocurrencies continue gaining popularity in the country, industry experts worry that this change will be detrimental to the country’s crypto sector.

Presently, crypto users ensure a seamless verification process with these crypto exchanges through the submission of their documents electronically. Though, the verification process for digital accounts in the country by these exchanges still eats up a significant amount of time regardless of the process being solely electronic. Thus, with the new policy guideline, the process is set to take longer if new users are mandated to visit an exchange physically to have their identities scanned for verification purposes.

However, industry experts in their thoughts have a worry that this change may be detrimental to Thai’s nascent crypto sector. They alleged that these changes might prevent foreign investors from accessing crypto exchanges in the country, seeing as they don’t have Thai IDs. meanwhile, digital asset intermediaries aim to discuss the matter at an upcoming forum organised by the Thailand Digital Asset Operators Trade Association where the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and AMLO will be fed with some relevant questions concerning the new move.