Thailand Legalizes Cryptocurrencies by Emergency Decree

After drafting legislation in recent months to start regulating cryptocurrencies, Thailand has decided to skip the legislative process entirely, passing an emergency decree that essentially legalizes cryptos and lays the groundwork for their taxing and regulation.

The new law, called the Digital Asset Business Decree, details the rules for businesses wanting to get involved in cryptocurrencies and digital tokens, including exchanges, brokers, and dealers. Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will be responsible for passing new regulations and making sure crypto companies do everything above board.

The decree also requires initial coin offerings (ICOs) to show a detailed business plan, including audited financial statements, before launching and going public–a huge positive step considering that scams are a dime a dozen in the world of crypto.

Another particularly interesting aspect of the law demands that all ICOs and trades must be paired with one of seven specific cryptos: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, and Stellar. The SEC chose these pairings because of their liquidity and convertibility to fiat (Thai Baht).

As for taxes, a 15% withholding tax is now placed on all cryptocurrency profits, which can be credited against an individual’s full-year income tax, making it more of an inconvenience than an actual tax. And although it’s likely to be repealed in the near future, all crypto trades made in Thailand are subject to 7% VAT.

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