Thailand Regulator Adds USDC, USDT Stablecoins to Approved Cryptocurrencies

Thailand’s financial regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expanding its list of approved cryptocurrencies with the two largest stablecoins, Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC as trading pairs on digital asset exchanges.

Previously, only bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), XRP, stellar (XLM), and certain tokens used in the Bank of Thailand’s settlement system were approved by the regulator.

The move comes after a public consultation in February, during which most respondents backed the proposal. The new rules from the will take effect on March 16.

By recognizing USDT and USDC, Thailand is aligning itself with global trends where stablecoins play a key role in crypto trading and payments. Stablecoins are one of the fastest-growing sectors of crypto, driven by demand in developing regions such as Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. USDT has a $142 billion market capitalization, followed by USDC with its $58 billion market cap. USDT issuer Tether said on Monday that the approval paves the way for broader acceptance of its token in Thailand’s financial sector. Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.