Guide · Digital assets
Starting a Digital-Asset Business in Thailand: Corporate and Regulatory Issues to Assess
Published 6 Oct 2026
Thailand regulates digital assets under the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses B.E. 2561 (2018). Six business types need a licence from the Minister of Finance on the SEC's recommendation, a public offering of digital tokens must go through an SEC-approved ICO portal, and the rules also reach operators outside Thailand that serve people in Thailand. Which rules apply to a project depends on what it actually does, who its customers are, and who controls the assets.
Key definitions
- Digital asset: cryptocurrency and digital tokens (section 3).
- Cryptocurrency: an electronic data unit intended as a medium of exchange for goods, services or other rights, or for exchange between digital assets.
- Digital token: an electronic data unit giving a right to invest in a project or business, or a right to acquire specific goods, services or other rights, as agreed between issuer and holder.
- ICO portal: an SEC-approved operator of the system through which new digital tokens are offered, which screens the token, the issuer and the offering documents.
The six licensed digital asset business types
| Business type | What it covers, in short |
|---|---|
| Digital asset exchange | A centre or network that matches or facilitates trading or exchange of digital assets as a regular business |
| Digital asset broker | Acting as broker or agent to buy, sell or exchange digital assets for others, for a fee |
| Digital asset dealer | Buying, selling or exchanging digital assets in its own name as a regular business, outside an exchange |
| Digital asset fund manager | Managing digital-asset funds, added by Ministry of Finance notification |
| Digital asset advisor | Advising on digital assets, added by Ministry of Finance notification |
| Custodial wallet provider | Holding customer digital assets or managing keys used to approve transfers, added in 2022 |
Five questions every project has to answer
- Does any activity fall within one of the six licensed business types, and who controls customer assets and keys?
- Is there a token, what rights does it give holders, and is it offered to the public, to a limited group, or not at all?
- Which Thai company will operate, and who owns it? A licence applicant must be a Thai limited or public limited company, and a Thai company is treated as foreign when foreigners hold 50% or more of its shares.
- Does the business serve people in Thailand from outside Thailand? Section 26 covers that case unless the SEC exempts the service.
- Does the business collect personal data from people in Thailand? The Personal Data Protection Act reaches offshore controllers that offer services to, or monitor, people in Thailand.
Questions people ask
Six: exchange, broker, dealer, fund manager, advisor and custodial wallet provider, under the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses B.E. 2561 and Ministry of Finance notifications.