Thailand Targets ‘Gray Money’ With Unified Gold and Crypto Oversight
Thailand is unifying oversight of physical gold and crypto assets to combat money laundering and illicit finance.Summary
Thailand, under the direction of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, has initiated a campaign against "gray money" by integrating oversight of physical gold markets and digital assets to close money-laundering loopholes exploited by criminal networks. The government plans to establish a national data hub for real-time threat monitoring and risk profiling.
Key regulatory changes include lowering the mandatory reporting threshold for physical gold purchases (currently 2 million Thai baht) as criminals break up large transactions, and considering stricter audits for online gold platforms. For digital assets, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been ordered to strictly enforce the global Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Travel Rule, requiring licensed providers to collect sender and recipient information for transactions, which may indirectly affect self-custody wallet withdrawals.
This unified approach signals that crypto is no longer treated as a regulatory outlier but is integrated into a broader, data-centric enforcement model alongside traditional assets like gold, reinforcing Thailand's existing structured regulatory posture.
(Source：Cointelegraph)