The Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given its approval for Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC) stablecoins to be traded on regulated exchanges in the country. This move comes after the SEC finalized regulatory changes in February and sought public feedback before implementing them on March 16.
Thailand has been actively working towards legitimizing cryptocurrency usage and promoting stablecoin adoption to boost domestic revenue. In August 2024, the country established a regulatory sandbox that allowed select service providers to experiment with cryptocurrencies.
With the recent approvals, USDt and USDC join a list of only five other cryptocurrencies that are approved for trading in Thailand, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP, Stellar Lumen (XLM), and cryptocurrencies being tested for settlement by the Bank of Thailand.
Tether announced that the approval allows USDt to be adopted by digital asset businesses and used as a payment rail within the country. This development is significant as stablecoins are increasingly being seen as an alternative to traditional remittances, particularly in emerging markets.
According to a report by Chainalysis, stablecoins have a “transformative” use case for cross-border payments and remittances. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, using stablecoins for remittances is 60% cheaper than traditional methods.
Venture capital firm a16z Crypto revealed that in December alone, 28.5 million unique stablecoin users conducted over 600 million transactions. However, this still represents a small fraction of the 3.4 trillion transactions in the global payments industry.
Stablecoin transfers offer significant advantages over traditional payment methods in terms of cost and speed. They are currently worth nearly $230 billion in circulating supply, with Tether’s USDt accounting for over 63% of the total market.
The approval of USDt and USDC by the Thailand SEC is a positive step towards the wider adoption of stablecoins and the growth of the cryptocurrency market in the country. As stablecoins continue to gain traction, they have the potential to revolutionize cross-border payments and remittances, providing a more efficient and cost-effective solution compared to traditional methods.
