Thailand SEC to apply strict guidelines for crypto ads

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will implement stringent advertising rules for cryptocurrency firms operating in the country by October 2022.

The Thai SEC informed cryptocurrency-related businesses operating in the country via email that adverts concerning digital currencies must have clear investment warnings to consumers on Sep. 1. The statement was later posted on the SEC website.

The Securities regulator has instituted the new standards for cryptocurrency-related adverts in response to a number of marketing campaigns that have neglected to include investment risk warnings.

The new standards will require adverts to not feature false, misleading or exaggerated claims and include investment risks warnings. The correspondence from the SEC also calls for balanced advertising, which would entail including potential positive and negative factors relating to the products or services being promoted.

Firms will have to limit advertising directly promoting cryptocurrency to ‘official channels’ like their own websites and will be required to hand over details of adverts and spending, including the use of social media influencers and bloggers and their terms, to the SEC.

Related: Strict Thai crypto regulation causes SCB to delay Bitkub acquisition

Prominent cryptocurrency exchanges like Bitkub and Zipmex have adverts on large street billboards and in public transport hubs, promoting their mobile applications and services to prospective users in the country. Advertising of services is still permitted in public spaces according to the SEC’s directive.

Companies have been given a month to comply with the new requirements as the SEC continues to establish frameworks that are positioned to protect retail investors in the country. This would include updating or amending existing adverts across print, online and real-world platforms.

The SEC further noted that the move was in line with regulatory standards set in other countries like the United Kingdom, Singapore and Spain, which had previously instituted stricter guidelines for cryptocurrency-related advertising.

August 2022 was a busy month for the Thai SEC as it granted licenses to four new cryptocurrency-related businesses to operate. The regulator also put Bitkub under the microscope, fining the firm's chief technology officer Samret Wajanasathian for alleged insider trading of its KUB token ahead of a lucrative investment deal with Thailand's Siam Commercial Bank.