Thailand’s SEC announces a public hearing for Digital Asset Advertising

During the public hearing period, people and companies may submit feedback on the proposed principles from the SEC. The principles include the following key points:

• Advertisements in relation to digital assets that are educational, informative, or factual, must not mislead customers through exaggeration, distortion of facts, or the concealment of information. Please note that any advertisements that refer to customer numbers for a particular relevant service must only indicate the number of customers who have received approval to open an account and can use the service immediately. This suggests that an app or website cannot use information such as app download numbers or account openings (those who have opened an account but have not completed KYC procedures etc).
• All advertisements relating to digital assets must be, “clear and appropriate”. This suggests that advertisements must clearly provide a warning about investment risks, and clearly state any SEC-mandated statements.
• Advertisements relating to cryptocurrencies will only be able to be made via a business operator’s official channels (e.g., their website, app, or other official online channel such as social media). Cryptocurrency will not be allowed to be advertised in public areas (e.g., billboards, public transportation, websites, newspapers etc.). However, any advertisements relating to the services of a digital assets business can still be made in public areas. For example, this suggests that a Cryptocurrency exchange will be allowed to advertise their services in public, but they will not be permitted to name any of the Cryptocurrencies they trade in any advertisement.
• Business operators will be required to monitor their own advertisements as well as those of affiliated companies that are not regulated by the SEC, in order to ensure they are in compliance with any specified regulations. This is a requirement for both companies part of the same same group and related individuals (e.g., shareholders, directors, marketing content creators, social media influencers, and others who manage the operations of the business).
• Cryptocurrency businesses will no longer be able to use, “Introducing broker agents (IBAs)”. However, if a business exclusively deals with digital tokens, they will still be permitted to use IBAs.