Thailand’s foremost bank has started scrutinizing large stablecoin transfers made in the country, and is now working with the country’s SEC to flag USDT movements that may be hiding illicit money from the authorities.

Bank of Thailand Governor Vitai Ratanakorn said the central bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission are running analyses over high-volume trades, with Tether’s USDT the main target, according to local outlet Thansettakij.

Early audits have already turned up transactions that look structured to intentionally dodge asset disclosure or route money around the usual payment channels.

The two agencies are now comparing their findings to decide what enforcement, if any, should follow.

USDT sees crackdown

Stablecoins are convenient for transferring large sums due to the ease of settling rapidly across borders. This ease and speed are also why regulators have placed a keen eye on them.

USDT is being thoroughly audited in Thailand because it is not a fringe asset. At Bitkub, the country’s largest exchange, the USDT/THB pair is the most-traded market, with about 40% of the exchange’s daily turnover of almost $26 million coming from forex activity, according to figures from CoinGecko.

Crypto trading itself is legal in Thailand and not restricted, however, the Bank of Thailand still bars stablecoins and other digital assets from being used as a means of payment.

Thailand against “gray economy”

The audit of these stablecoin transactions is part of a campaign against the “gray economy,” an entity the Thai officials refer to as the pool of cash traceable to scam operations across the country. Large cash deposits and withdrawals, transactions involving gold, and accounts used in gambling have also come under the scrutiny of the regulators, according to Thansettakij.

Reports state that high-value cash transactions will require a source-of-funds declaration, and cash deposits above 5 million baht (equal to about $150,000) will need full disclosure. Swapping large volumes of high-denomination notes for smaller ones without a clear business reason will also lead to regulator interest.

“The measures being implemented are not short-term fixes but require multiple ongoing, complementary actions,” Ratanakorn said.

Illicit activities trigger audit

Thai police recently broke up a laundering network that pushed romance-scam proceeds through several cryptocurrencies using cross-chain swaps to distort the money trail, investigators said. One suspect’s wallet alone handled more than $122.5 million over ten months.

The country has historically dealt with the crypto industry with a heavy hand, and that has carried a bit of a risk. During a 2025 push against “mule” accounts, Thai banks froze roughly three million accounts, with many legitimate individuals and businesses getting swept up in what local coverage at the time called a crackdown “gone wrong.”

Regulators will therefore need to separate genuine bad actors from ordinary traders as the stablecoin audit and possible enforcements increase.

Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It’s free.