Thailand regulator approves USDT, USDC stablecoins

The Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC) for cryptocurrency trades, allowing the stablecoins to be listed on regulated exchanges across the country.

Thailand’s SEC announced the approvals last week after soliciting feedback from the public on proposed regulatory changes that were finalized in February and scheduled to go into effect on March 16.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, there have been growing calls within Thailand to legitimize cryptocurrency usage and urge stablecoin adoption to boost domestic revenue. This followed the creation of a regulatory sandbox in August 2024 for select service providers to experiment with cryptocurrencies.

The stablecoins join only five other cryptocurrencies that are approved for trading in the country: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP), Stellar Lumen (XLM) and cryptocurrencies that are being tested for settlement by the Bank of Thailand. 

According to a March 10 announcement by Tether, the approval allows USDt to be adopted by digital asset businesses and be used as a payment rail within the country. 

Related: Thailand eyes spot Bitcoin ETF approval, cracks down on Polymarket

In addition to facilitating cryptocurrency trades, stablecoins are increasingly viewed as an alternative to traditional remittances, especially in emerging markets. 

A December report by Chainalysis called stablecoins a “transformative” use case for cross-border payments and remittances. In emerging markets across Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, using stablecoins for remittances is 60% cheaper than traditional methods.

According to venture capital firm a16z Crypto, 28.5 million unique stablecoin users sent over 600 million transactions in December alone. This still represents a tiny faction of the 3.4 trillion transactions of the global payments industry. 

Stablecoin transfers are significantly cheaper and faster than traditional payment methods. Source: a16z Crypto

In terms of circulating supply, stablecoins are currently worth nearly $230 billion, according to DefiLlama. Tether’s USDt accounts for just over 63% of the total market. 

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