Thailand’s central bank cracks down on crypto money laundering of the “gray economy”! Targets abnormal large USDT transactions and hands them over to the SEC to expand the money-laundering investigation

Thailand launches an all-out crackdown on crypto money laundering! According to Decrypt, the country’s central bank (BOT) has rolled out data analytics tools to tightly monitor abnormal high-value stablecoin (especially USDT) transactions linked to the underground “grey economy,” and has referred suspicious cases to the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for further investigation.
(Background: Thailand ordered Worldcoin to stop iris scans, delete 1.2 million records, and $WLD transactions have also been halted)
(Additional context: Thailand’s anti-fraud freezes affected 3 million bank accounts, sparking public backlash, as Bitcoin “de-governmentalization” became a hot topic)

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• Central bank teams up with the SEC to prevent USDT from becoming a haven for funds
• Heavy-handed crackdown on the grey economy: cash, gold, and mule accounts
• Is Southeast Asia becoming a money-laundering hotspot? A billion-dollar-plus scam network busted

Global regulators’ scrutiny of stablecoins continues to intensify. To eradicate deeply rooted underground finance networks at home, the Thai government is extending its “net of supervision” to the deepest layers of the crypto market.

According to a report by Decrypt on July 13, 2026, Thailand’s central bank (Bank of Thailand, abbreviated as BOT) is actively using advanced data analytics tools to conduct in-depth scanning and flagging of abnormal high-value stablecoin transactions in the crypto market, with Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin by global market value, as the top target for this action.

Central bank teams up with the SEC to prevent USDT from becoming a haven for funds

Thailand central bank governor Vitai Ratanakorn said publicly that the central bank has started to strictly review abnormal large-value stablecoin transactions. He noted that these massive USDT transfers on-chain have a very high chance of being carried out by bad actors to evade reporting requirements in traditional financial systems, or to attempt to bypass normal bank transfer channels for money laundering.

Because under Thailand’s regulatory framework, direct oversight of digital assets falls under the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rather than the central bank, after BOT uses data tools to identify these suspicious transactions, it has fully handed over the findings and relevant evidence to the Thai SEC. The SEC will then decide whether to initiate further legal actions or law enforcement investigations. This shows that Thailand’s cross-agency regulatory cooperation is becoming tighter.

Heavy-handed crackdown on the grey economy: cash, gold, and mule accounts

Including USDT in its monitoring radar is only one piece of the Thai government’s comprehensive strategy to crack down on the “grey economy.” The report says this is a long-term, multi-pronged national effort:

• Curbs on large cash transactions: Starting from this year’s April, Thai banks have been forced to verify the purpose of cash withdrawals of more than 5 million baht (about $150k). The measure has been effective, already reducing the volume of large cash withdrawals by about 35%. From the fourth quarter onward, this rule will expand to the “deposit side,” meaning customers depositing more than 5 million baht must also report the source of funds as required by law.
• Real-time reporting for gold transactions: In the past, money laundering groups often used an App-based method of ordering gold in the morning and picking it up at physical storefronts in the afternoon to launder “at breakpoints.” Now, monitoring of these high-value bill exchanges and gold transactions has been upgraded across the board, with suspicious activity directly reported to the Anti-Money Laundering Office. Data shows that Thailand’s monthly gold withdrawals have fallen from 4,000 kilograms in the past to 700 kilograms.
• Crackdown on online gambling: For the gaming industry, Thai banks have cooperated with government policies by forcing the closure of thousands of “mule accounts” that are highly associated with online gambling networks.

Is Southeast Asia becoming a money-laundering hotspot? A billion-dollar-plus scam network busted

Thailand’s major push to tighten financial and crypto-asset regulation is mainly because, in recent years, it has become a hotspot region for cross-border crypto crimes and money laundering. In Interpol’s recent “Operation First Light,” Thai police successfully tracked a large romance-dating scam money laundering network. Investigators found that a single cryptocurrency wallet, within just 10 months, transferred more than $122.5 million in illicit funds through complex cross-chain swaps.

In addition, Thai authorities have recently expanded an investigation into a Chinese money laundering network involving $300 million. The group used crypto mining to launder money. Police ultimately seized illegal mining equipment worth as much as $8.6 million, and confirmed that these profits were used to fund notorious scam operations in Southeast Asia.

BOT governor Vitai Ratanakorn emphasized that cracking down on such intricately connected grey-economy networks absolutely has no “quick fix.” Only through “continuous, multi-track” cross-department supervision and data tracking can illegal funds truly be contained from flowing across global borders.