Thailand Follows Singapore, Bans Crypto Exchanges From Offering Lending Services

Thailand is the second Southeast Asian country to announce a ban on crypto exchanges offering lending services today, as the country’s regulators put investor protection at the forefront of their crypto strategy. 

Earlier, news broke that Singapore is banning exchanges from offering lending and staking services to retail customers. 

Thailand’s similar rules were announced in a release today by the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

The wording of the announcement makes clear that the ban applies to “depository services that offer returns to depositors and lenders,” thus outright banning exchanges from offering both lending and staking services. 

The Thai SEC has also introduced a mandatory trading risks disclaimer which must clearly be visible to customers. It reads: “Cryptocurrencies are high risk. Please study and understand the risks of…