Thailand’s Regulator Sounds Alarm on 9 Crypto Projects

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand has warned about several tokens and initial coin offerings (ICOs) that target investors in the country without possessing the required permit, local media reported on Friday.

The regulator investigated nine projects: Every Coin, Orientum Coin (ORT Coin), Tripxchain Coin (TXC Coin), TUC Coin, G2S Expert ICO, Singhcom Enterprise ICO, Adventure Hostel Bangkok ICO, Kidstocurrency ICO, as well as OneCoin and related OFC Coin, which were considered as one project by the SEC.

The inquiry showed that all nine companies had used social media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube, to attract investment from Thai citizens despite not applying for registration with the SEC, as the country’s legal framework stipulates. The regulator’s research also found that the projects disclosed insufficient information, so the offerings may have problems with liquidity and investment returns, the SEC said.

One of the offerings, Bulgaria-based OneCoin, is also on the radar of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which has already warned the public about investing in the project.

“There are opportunists who persuade individuals to invest in digital assets by assuring investment returns generated from digital tokens that are structured like pyramid schemes,” the Bangkok Post newspaper quoted the SEC as saying. “These schemes encourage individuals to seek more partners in the investment network but there are no details available on business plans, product, platform or credible management team.”

Under Thailand’s recently enforced rules, crypto projects are obliged to file accreditation documents with the SEC. The approval procedure includes several steps aimed at protecting investors. These include possessing some qualifications and a smart contract assessment by a licensed ICO portal. While the SEC is looking into an application, the company can legally operate in Thailand.

Currently, six exchanges are in that situation: Bitcoin Co (bx.in.th), Bitkub Online (bitkub.com), Cash2Coins (cash2coins.com), Satang Corporation (tdax.com), Coin Asset (coinasset.co.th) and Southeast Asia Digital Exchange (seadex.io). The documents of virtual asset dealers Coins TH Co (coins.co.th) and Digital Coin Co (thaiwm.com) are also under revision by the SEC.