Bank of Thailand Proposes Strict One-to-One Reserves for Baht Stablecoins
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The Bank of Thailand proposed draft rules requiring baht-denominated stablecoin issuers to back tokens 1:1 with bank deposits and prohibited them from paying interest to holders.
Redemptions must clear within one business day under the central bank’s consultation paper, stripping out speculative yield features to force issuers into functioning strictly as payment tools.
Cash Reserves and Redemption Rules
Under the initial phase of the framework, issuers must place all reserve assets in commercial bank accounts. The central bank stated that each issued token requires a full baht counterpart on deposit to guarantee liquidity when users exit to fiat currency.
Later stages could permit issuers to diversify backing into other high-quality liquid assets such as short-dated government securities. For now, capital remains locked exclusively in standard accounts.
Holders will receive zero yield. The paper bars issuers from providing direct or indirect incentives, interest payments, or returns calculated against holding duration or token balances.
The role of the digital payment tool should be clearly distinguished from financial products that offer returns on holdings. The restriction aims to ensure that THB stablecoins function as a means of payment rather than a savings or investment product, the consultation paper stated.
Licensing Under the Finance Ministry
The central bank recommended that Thailand’s Ministry of Finance formally designate token issuers and custodial wallet operators as payment service businesses. That designation pulls every participant directly beneath central bank supervision before they can launch commercial services.
“The restriction aims to ensure that THB stablecoins function as a means of payment rather than a savings or investment product, the consultation paper stated.”
Regulators also want the legal authority to cap the total number of licensed issuers operating in Thailand. Fragmented liquidity across dozens of corporate tokens would weaken settlement stability and leave merchant gateways juggling incompatible digital currencies.
Wallet providers and token operators must install anti-money laundering controls alongside know-your-customer and know-your-merchant checks. Systems must flag suspicious flows and maintain cyber safeguards equivalent to retail banking networks.
Automated Settlements and Retail Reality
Commercial banks and payment aggregators already run PromptPay across Thailand, processing high-volume consumer payments at near-zero fees. A baht stablecoin does not exist to replace that daily point-of-sale infrastructure.
The central bank pointed instead toward programmable commerce built on distributed ledgers. Smart contracts could automate escrow payments, releasing merchant disbursements only after a freight carrier confirms final delivery of goods.
For enterprise treasuries, programmable tokens eliminate multi-day corporate settlement delays without taking on foreign-exchange volatility. Yet by banning interest, regulators have eliminated the primary mechanism decentralized finance protocols use to attract commercial liquidity.
What to Watch Next
Thailand is choosing a defensive stance that protects retail deposits rather than testing financial engineering.
The policy document follows years of steady payments modernization in Thailand, moving from paper cash to QR codes under state supervision. Permitting private corporate tokens without strict balance sheet anchors would reverse that consumer protection stance.
The Bank of Thailand is now gathering public industry feedback on the consultation paper before submitting formal statutory recommendations to the Ministry of Finance.
Questions & Answers
Q.Why are stablecoin issuers prohibited from paying interest to holders?
Why are stablecoin issuers prohibited from paying interest to holders?
Regulators barred interest and yield incentives to ensure baht stablecoins function strictly as payment tools rather than savings or investment products. This prevents speculative hoarding and clearly separates these digital payment mechanisms from financial assets that generate commercial returns.
Q.What assets can issuers hold in reserve to back the stablecoins?
What assets can issuers hold in reserve to back the stablecoins?
Under the initial framework, issuers must hold all reserve assets exclusively as one-to-one cash deposits in commercial bank accounts. Later phases may allow diversification into other high-quality liquid assets, such as short-dated government securities, to back the tokens.
Q.How does the central bank envisage these tokens being used alongside PromptPay?
How does the central bank envisage these tokens being used alongside PromptPay?
Rather than replacing PromptPay for everyday retail transactions, the tokens are intended for programmable commerce using smart contracts. They can automate escrow payments upon verified delivery of goods and eliminate multi-day settlement delays for enterprise treasuries without exposing them to currency volatility.
Q.Why does the central bank want the power to limit the number of licensed issuers?
Why does the central bank want the power to limit the number of licensed issuers?
Regulators want to prevent fragmented liquidity across dozens of corporate tokens, which could undermine settlement stability. Limiting issuer numbers also stops merchant gateways from having to juggle multiple incompatible digital currencies across the domestic payment network.
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