Thailand SEC’s New Three-Year Plan Pushes Tokenization, Crypto ETFs

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will bring in new provisions for crypto exchange-traded funds and the development of digital assets as an investment class as part of its new three-year plan.

The plan, released Monday, focuses on improving the competitiveness of and confidence in local markets, leveraging technology for the development of digital assets as an investment class, creating sustainable capital markets, improving the financial wellbeing of the public and enhancing organizational capabilities.

SEC Secretary-General Pornanong Budsaratragoon said in a statement that Thailand’s capital markets had faced challenges on multiple fronts in 2025, including both domestic factors and global shifts.

“Amid the volatility and uncertainties arising from multiple factors that may affect Thailand’s capital market going forward, the SEC remains committed to maintaining a balanced approach between promoting market development and ensuring effective supervision, so that the capital market remains credible, sustainable, and accessible to all sectors,” she said.

Thailand’s crypto market is booming. In August 2025, the SEC valued the domestic market at $3.19 billion (TBH 100 billion), with an average daily trading volume of $95 million (THB 2.99 billion).

The country has tried to strike a balance between promoting crypto through measures such as exempting crypto from capital gains tax while also taking a hard line against foreign exchanges and crypto service not regulated in the country.

The three-year plan will focus on developing a digital capital market by using technology to support tokenization, as well as a regulatory framework for crypto ETFs and exploring issuing them in trust form.

With the new ETF rules expected early this year, the Bangkok Post reported Thursday that the Thailand Futures Exchange (TFEX) is also exploring enabling crypto futures trading.

Thailand’s “middle ground” approach

Jimmy Xue, co-founder and CEO of Axis, a quantitative yield protocol, told Decrypt the combined efforts of different institutions suggested the country was pursuing a model that integrates crypto into traditional finance rather than fencing it off, mirroring the U.S. approach of using banks as market makers and approving spot ETFs to lower operational risks for retail investors.

“Thailand appears to be taking a dual-track approach where the regulatory sandbox for bond tokens nurtures local issuers while the formalization of ETFs signals to global projects that the country is a safe jurisdiction for foreign capital,” he added.

“This strategy aims to transform the local market from a retail-heavy trading hub into a sophisticated venue for institutional asset allocation.”

He characterised Thailand as taking a “regulated middle ground” between the approaches seen by some of its neighbors, including “the legally gray but high-adoption market of Vietnam and the cautious, accredited-investor focus of Singapore.”

“By actively creating retail-accessible products like ETFs with a suggested 4-5% portfolio allocation, the Thai SEC provides clear legal protections without stifling access,” he added.

Thailand is also continuing its focus on scams targeting retail investors. The SEC said that, in 2025, it prevented 47,692 crypto mule accounts used by scammers to transfer assets through measures such as issuing industry standards to digital asset operators to screen and prevent mules accounts, and amending the Cybersecurity Decrees to block illicit apps and enforce shared liability. It had handled over 12,000 reported and investor inquiries related to scams, and published over 3,800 investor alerts.

Meanwhile, authorities in Thailand have been cracking down on regional scam networks that often use cryptocurrency to steal funds from victims.

It’s proving contentious, as recent reports have revealed potential links between these operations and Thai politicians. An investigation is currently ongoing into 10 parliamentary candidates allegedly connected to scam networks. Their names have not yet been disclosed.