Thailand Wants to Audit USDT Transactions in New Crackdown

Thailand’s central bank is considering measures requiring anyone depositing 5 million baht ($150,000) or more in cash to prove the origin of the funds. 

This is part of a fourth-quarter push that also puts Tether (USDT) transactions under a joint audit with securities regulators.

Why Thailand Is Watching USDT

Bank of Thailand (BOT) Governor Vitai Ratanakorn framed the measures as a strike against the country’s grey economy. The push, reported by Thansettakij, extends the central bank’s grey-money campaign to digital assets. 

Vitai said in January that roughly 40% of USDT sellers on local platforms were foreigners. He argued they should not be operating in Thailand.

The BOT is now working with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to review unusually high-volume USDT trading.  Authorities have identified transactions that may indicate disclosure avoidance or the movement of funds outside standard financial channels. 

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Cash and Bullion Rules Tighten

The deposit rule complements checks already applied to large withdrawals. Since April, cash withdrawals above 5 million baht have faced enhanced due diligence. The value of large cash withdrawals has since fallen 35%.

The BOT is reviewing the legal framework before issuing the deposit requirements. 

“In addition, it is considering measures for high-value banknote exchanges — such as bringing in large quantities of 1,000-baht notes to exchange for 100- or 500-baht notes — which may require an explanation of the reason for the transaction,” the report read.

In addition, the BOT has tightened oversight of gold trading to limit its impact on the baht and detect suspicious activity. 

“The measures we are implementing are not short-term fixes; they require the continuous deployment of multiple parallel strategies,” Governor Vitai said.

The coming quarter will test how far the BOT can extend its reach.

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