The Bank of Thailand's study of a baht-backed stablecoin aligns with the evolution of the global financial system, with many central banks exploring or implementing similar initiatives.
Over the past few years, Thailand has emerged as one of Southeast Asia's most proactive and structured hosts for digital asset regulation. Driven by a high level of retail crypto adoption, a tech-savvy population and strong institutional backing, the focus has shifted towards building a utility-driven digital asset system.At the core of this transformation are stablecoins -- digital tokens pegged to fiat currencies or reserve assets.
Bank of Thailand governor Vitai Ratanakorn pledged to develop a baht-backed stablecoin as part of efforts to modernise the country's payment infrastructure, align with global financial trends and reduce transaction costs.
The central bank plans to hold a public hearing on the proposal by year-end and has outlined strict initial requirements for any stablecoin that would operate in the country.
In the first phase, the regulator intends to allow financial institutions to use stablecoins for settlement purposes only, with additional use cases to be evaluated in subsequent phases, according to Mr Vitai.
