Facebook’s Digital Currency Libra Faces Uncertain Legal Status in Thailand
Facebook made massive waves in the cryptocurrency realm recently as the Silicon Valley giant announced it would launch its own digital coin, dubbed Libra.
Libra is a called a “stable coin”, meaning it will use the real world currencies used to purchase it to back the coin and keep its price from drastically fluctuating.
The coin faces murky legal waters in pretty much every country across the world since regulations and laws regarding digital currencies are greatly lagging behind the underlying blockchain technology’s popularity.
In Thailand, for example, Libra would not fall under any existing financial laws due to the fact that the coin does not have the characteristics of other official currencies.
For something to be considered legal tender under Thai law, it must have value in baht, be an object to pay against debts or exchange with other currencies.
Since Libra doesn’t fall squarely within Thai law, it faces a few different scenarios if it hopes to enter the Thai market.
On the one hand, authorities could possibly ban the coin from ever being used in the country.
On the other hand, the Thai government might not seek to regulate the cryptocurrency is hopes that it gains more acceptance and financial inclusion.
Or lastly, the government might regulate it as a means to have some control over its use and adoption.
In recent years, Thailand has consistently been one of the leading countries when it comes to regulating cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin.
As of now, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially recognized four cryptocurrencies and three digital asset exchanges.
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