Thailand’s SEC Moves Crypto Capital and Custody Reform to Draft Rules

The May review has progressed to draft notifications

On 26 May, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand opened a consultation on changes to Net Capital, or NC, requirements for digital-asset operators. In this framework, NC is the regulatory capital buffer used to reflect risks arising from an operator’s activities and its ability to continue meeting obligations.

The SEC Board had approved the underlying principles on 7 May. The proposal covered additional risk categories, including counterparty, settlement and fund-management risk, alongside changes to the way customer assets may be held. The first consultation closed on 25 June.

The process moved forward on 11 September, when the SEC published draft notifications and related reporting forms. The regulator said most respondents to the May–June hearing supported the principles. The current hearing on the draft texts is scheduled to close on 11 October 2026.

For practical context, see Thailand economy and finance. This development also connects with Thailand SEC proposes new capital rules for digital asset firms.

Custody and local broker-exchange links are central to the draft

One proposed change would allow licensed digital-asset brokers to use Thai digital-asset exchanges for trade execution and custody under specified conditions. The drafts would add requirements covering counterparty selection, contracts, disclosures, reporting, wallet management and the safekeeping of customer assets.

For licensed digital-asset custodians, the SEC is proposing tiered risk-charge rates for customer assets. It also wants stronger custody standards, including segregation of wallets for individual customers and the use of more advanced technology for key and wallet management.

These are operator-level requirements. They do not create a new filing or capital obligation for an ordinary retail user, although they could eventually affect how a licensed platform structures custody, chooses counterparties and allocates capital against operational risks.

Users should treat the changes as unfinished regulation

The September documents are more concrete than the principles published in May, but they still sit inside a public-consultation process. Until final notifications are issued, individual provisions may be revised, removed or supplemented.

The policy direction is clear: the SEC wants more domestic connectivity between licensed operators, less reliance on foreign service providers and capital rules that track business risks more closely. None of that guarantees that customer assets will be loss-proof, nor does the consultation itself require users to move funds or switch platforms today.