Thai SEC Warns Against 9 Unapproved ICOs

The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a warning about 9 digital token ICOs that are being conducted without authorization from the market regulator. The 9 tokens listed are Every Coin, Oreintum Coin, OneCoin, OFC Coin, Tripxchain Coin, Tuc Coin, G2s Expert ICO, Singhcom Enterprise ICO, Adventure hostel Bangkok ICO and Kidstocurrency ICO. An SEC investigation has found that these platforms are posting to social media outlets and conducting unauthorized promotions for digital asset and ICO offerings.

The securities watchdog told the Bangkok Post that the companies behind these assets have not applied for SEC approval, and individuals that invest in them should be cautious because there is high investment risk.

Thailand is home to a rapidly growing cryptocurrency marketplace; the SEC has been actively trying to support innovation while protecting investors from fraudulent ICOs. The tokens listed above are reported to have not met the necessary qualifications to have smart contracts assessed by ICO portals, which are then approved by the market regulator.

“Information disclosure for investment decision-making is also inadequate, while these digital assets might not have sufficient liquidity to trade and cannot be converted into cash,” said the SEC.

OneCoin, in particular, has been previously reported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to be working without supervision, and media outlets from many other countries have warned against investing in the coin.

“There are opportunists who persuade individuals to invest in digital assets by assuring investment returns generated from digital tokens that are structured like pyramid schemes,” the SEC told the Bangkok Post. “These schemes encourage individuals to seek more partners in the investment network, but there are no details available on business plans, product, platform or credible management team.”

Meanwhile there are reports of six legitimate businesses seeking approval from the SEC to operate as digital asset exchanges. The companies are as follows: Bitcoin Co (bx.in.th), Bitkub Online Co Ltd (bitkub.com), Cash2Coins Co Ltd (cash2coins.com), Satang Corporation Co Ltd (tdax.com), Coin Asset Co Ltd (coinasset.co.th) and Southeast Asia Digital Exchange Co Ltd (seadex.io).

Coins TH Co (coins.co.th) and Digital Coin Co Ltd (thaiwm.com) are also seeking licenses to operate as digital asset dealers.

These businesses are reportedly operating while their applications are being assessed by the SEC, as they submitted their requests within 90 days after the royal decree on digital asset businesses took effect on May 14th.

This legislation was written to help regulate digital asset offerings and businesses undertaking digital asset-related activities. The term ‘digital assets’ is defined in the royal decree to cover “digital tokens and any other electronic data units, as specified by the SEC.”