Thailand's securities regulator has proposed separate daily limits on stablecoin deposits and withdrawals, alongside restrictions on transfers involving other people's wallets. Cointelegraph reported the proposal in a November 13 post. The underlying SEC announcement, dated November 12, puts the ceiling at 5 million baht in each direction per customer at each regulated operator, approximately $148,000.
As of November 13, 2026, these are draft requirements under public consultation. They would make both the amount transferred and ownership of the external wallet part of an operator's approval process.
For crypto users in Thailand, the wallet condition could affect more transactions than the headline dollar amount. A transfer below the ceiling would still have to satisfy the ownership requirement.
Separate ceilings for money entering and leaving
The proposed deposit and withdrawal limits are separate. A customer reaching the inbound ceiling would not, on that basis alone, have exhausted the outbound allowance. Cointelegraph's report also specifies that the calculation applies at each operator.
Describing the proposal simply as a "$148,000 daily stablecoin cap" can suggest one combined allowance covering every movement. The reported structure instead measures deposits and withdrawals independently.
Consider a customer depositing stablecoins and later withdrawing some of them. Under the proposed structure, the deposit counts toward the inbound limit and the withdrawal toward the outbound limit. Treating both as one running total would misread the draft.
The baht amount is the regulatory reference. The dollar figure is an approximate conversion, useful for international readers but unsuitable as a fixed dollar entitlement.
For customers whose transfers approach the threshold, the practical constraint would be daily throughput. Holding a balance and moving that balance through an operator are different activities; the reported proposal concerns transfers.
Wallet ownership becomes a transaction condition
The draft would require customers to use accounts or wallets verified as their own when depositing or withdrawing stablecoins through regulated operators. Transfers involving another person's account or wallet would be prohibited.
Permission to transfer would therefore depend on the relationship between the customer and the sending or receiving wallet. Having a valid address and staying below the daily ceiling would be insufficient.
Consider a customer asking an operator to send stablecoins directly to a supplier's wallet. Even a small payment would fall under the proposed third-party restriction. A withdrawal to the customer's own verified wallet would satisfy the ownership condition.
The proposal addresses transfers through regulated operators, rather than imposing a blanket prohibition on every wallet-to-wallet stablecoin payment.
For readers considering self-custody options, the relevant distinction is between controlling a wallet and satisfying an operator's ownership checks. Under this draft, a customer could retain control of an external wallet while having to establish that ownership before using it for operator deposits or withdrawals.
The practical result would be less flexibility in choosing transfer counterparties. Customers who already move funds exclusively between their own accounts face a different adjustment from those who use an exchange account to receive funds from, or pay, other people.
Exemptions preserve specified business routes
The SEC announcement exempts transfers between a customer's accounts at supervised operators when both operators comply with the Travel Rule. It also lists exceptions for specified operator business transfers, certain Bank of Thailand-approved businesses, stablecoin-baht market makers, and approved digital-token subscription and repayment transactions.
These exceptions make the ceiling more selective than a universal limit on stablecoin activity. The draft distinguishes ordinary customer transfers from specified business and investment flows.
The same announcement would require exchanges to disclose their market makers and the assets they support. Brokers would be prohibited from using liquidity providers for stablecoin-baht pairs, while covered off-platform transactions would have a 3 million baht minimum.
Together, those provisions set out targeted controls on customer transfers and business activity. The announcement offers no regional comparison to support the accompanying description of the proposal as one of Asia's strictest frameworks.
The SEC states that its objectives include combating money laundering, cybercrime and circumvention of international transfer rules. Comments close November 26, 2026.
Overview
Thailand's proposal combines separate 5 million baht daily inbound and outbound limits with verified own-wallet requirements at regulated crypto operators. The ownership condition would reach transfers below the ceiling, giving it practical relevance beyond customers moving approximately $148,000 a day.
Specified exemptions preserve routes for supervised account transfers and designated business activity. The next formal step is the close of public comments on November 26.
