Thai crypto firms have frozen more than 10,000 accounts believed to be involved in illicit money laundering. The action is part of a broader campaign by the Thai authorities to tackle so-called mule accounts.
A mule account is an account used by criminals to move money through other people or accounts, making its origin more difficult to trace.
According to the Thai newspaper Bangkok Post, the freezes followed stricter controls within the crypto sector. Crypto providers must from now on extra check suspicious transactions and in some cases delay them. In addition, for riskier transactions, users are subject to additional Know Your Customer checks, where their identity is verified.
More than 10,000 suspicious crypto accounts blocked
These stricter procedures allowed crypto companies to identify and freeze more than 10,000 suspicious accounts. This is what Att Thongyai Asavanund, CEO of KuCoin Thailand and chairman of the Thai Digital Asset Operators Trade Association (TDO), said.
The TDO represents licensed crypto companies in Thailand, including exchanges and brokers. According to Asavanund, closer cooperation between companies and regulators helps to detect suspicious transactions faster.
It is not yet clear how much cryptocurrency was in total in the frozen accounts. The TDO has not yet announced any details about this.
Thailand tightens approach to crypto money laundering
The recent freezes build on previous measures by Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the crypto sector to combat fraud and money laundering involving digital assets.
In February 2025, the SEC announced it was working with multiple organizations, including the Bank of Thailand, the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, the Central Investigation Bureau, the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the Thai Bankers’ Association.
According to local reports, this joint approach led to crypto platforms freezing 47,692 mule accounts by 2025.
During a joint workshop, regulators, banks and investigative services also developed new guidelines to identify and block suspicious accounts more quickly.
More data sharing between crypto exchanges and banks
According to Jomkwan Kongsakul, deputy secretary general of the SEC, guidelines have been established for monitoring and investigating suspicious accounts. In addition, measures have been introduced to tackle different types of mule accounts more quickly.
It was also agreed to expand data exchange between crypto companies, banks and law enforcement agencies. By sharing information more quickly, suspicious transactions should be detected and blocked earlier.
The measures are part of a broader campaign by Thailand against so-called gray money. In addition, the government is tightening supervision of both the gold market and digital assets to close possible money laundering routes.
Stricter rules for crypto transactions
Within the crypto sector, the Thai government has also instructed the SEC to strictly enforce the so-called Travel Rule. This international rule requires crypto companies to collect information about both the sender and receiver of digital assets in certain transactions.
With these measures, Thailand aims to further reduce the use of cryptocurrencies for money laundering and other financial crime and increase transparency within the sector.
Source: https://newsbit.nl/thailand-bevriest-meer-dan-10-000-crypto-accounts-in-nieuwe-strijd-tegen-witwassen/
