Thai SEC Approves USDT and USDC: What It Really Means

There's significant confusion around the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission's recent announcement approving USDT and USDC stablecoins, effective just this past March 16, 2025. Let us clarify what this approval actually entails.

What the Approval IS NOT

Contrary to popular belief, this is not a green light for everyday stablecoin usage in Thailand. You cannot yet use USDT or USDC for daily purchases like coffee or shopping. For stablecoins to become legitimate payment methods in everyday transactions, additional approvals from the Bank of Thailand are still required.

What the Approval IS

The SEC has simply authorized these below specific entities to use USDT and USDC for regulated ICO transactions:

• ICO token investors

• ICO issuers

• SEC-regulated ICO portals (e.g. Token X and XSpring )

• SEC-regulated digital asset exchanges (e.g., Bitkub and Binance Thailand)

Previously, if you wanted to invest in regulated tokens like RealX through Token X or Sirihub token through XSpring, you could only use Thai Baht. Now USDC and USDT are also accepted for these same investments. That's it.

The Crypto Sandbox Connection

From what we know now, the Bank of Thailand and the SEC only green light these 2 stablecoins for daily purchases of goods and services just for the upcoming "Crypto Sandbox" experiment happening in Phuket later this year which comes with certain restrictions.

Important Distinction

It's crucial to note that the approval we are talking about here is related to just the regulated ICO deals offered and conducted through licensed channels. It does not apply to the ICOs in the broader crypto/web3 space.

While this change might seem like it should have happened long ago, it still represents progress for Thailand's crypto and digital asset regulations. The country continues its measured approach toward digital asset integration.