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July 24, 2025

Thailand Restricts Access to Illegal Digital Asset Services

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Thai authorities have escalated efforts to block unlawful cross-border digital asset business operators. On June 19, 2025, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) issued a notification empowering it to ban internet access to operations or services offered by digital asset business operators who lack licenses from the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses B.E. 2561 (2018).

This ban, issued under the 2023 Royal Decree on Measures for the Prevention and Suppression of Technology Crime, particularly aims to block Thai users’ access to services offered by unlicensed offshore digital asset providers via their own apps or websites or through public social media platforms.

Compliance Requirements

The notification requires internet service providers and social media platforms selected by MDES to immediately impose internet access restrictions on identified apps, websites, and IP addresses of illegal operators upon receiving MDES orders.

Takedown Orders

There are two tracks for competent officials at MDES to issue orders to operators:

  • If the competent official is notified by the SEC of licensing noncompliance by a particular digital asset business operator, the competent official can issue a takedown order to the operator upon approval from the permanent secretary of MDES.
  • If the competent official independently discovers, or receives a complaint from any third party other than the SEC, that a digital asset business operator may have violated licensing requirements, the competent official can ask the SEC to verify and confirm the relevant facts and noncompliance before seeking approval from the permanent secretary of MDES to issue the takedown order.

Streamlined Enforcement

Prior to this notification, the SEC could obtain takedown orders only from Thai courts under the 2007 Computer Crime Act to take down or block access to unlicensed digital asset platforms and apps. This was a relatively lengthy process subject to limitations and complications. Under the new MDES notification, the SEC and MDES can collaborate to shorten the time needed to tackle unlicensed digital asset platforms, with more comprehensive authority to issue takedown orders to selected ISPs and social media platforms that serve as distribution channels.

Precedent Case

On May 29, 2025, the SEC submitted to MDES the first set of unlicensed offshore platforms. The list included, for example, Bybit.com, 1000x.live, CoinEx, and XT.com—which were subsequently blocked by MDES in accordance with the new notification. Thai users of these platforms were given approximately one month’s warning to withdraw their digital assets before the takedown order took effect on June 28, 2025.

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