On March 19, 2021, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) issued policy
guidelines on how stablecoins are to be regulated. These were
issued following the BOT's recent ruling that stablecoins
pegged to the Thai baht violate the Currency Act B.E. 2501
(1958).
Stablecoins were developed to offer a more price-stable
alternative to traditional cryptocurrencies, which are defined
under Thai law as digital units created to serve as means of
exchange for goods, services, or any other rights. As
traditional cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin) have no underlying
assets, they are subject to such extreme fluctuations in value, and
therefore people often hold them as investments rather than spend
them as currency.
