Thai cryptocurrency platform operators have reportedly frozen greater than 10,000 accounts suspected of getting used to launder illicit funds, because the nation steps up efforts to crack down on so-called mule accounts.
The freezes adopted the rollout of stricter screening measures aimed toward slowing suspicious crypto transfers and requiring extra Know Your Buyer checks earlier than higher-risk transactions are accomplished, in keeping with native reporting from the Bangkok Put up on Tuesday.
The tighter course of helped operators determine and freeze greater than 10,000 suspected mule accounts, Att Thongyai Asavanund, chief government of KuCoin Thailand and chairman of the Thai Digital Asset Operators Commerce Affiliation (TDO), instructed the Bangkok Put up.
The transfer builds on earlier efforts by Thailand’s Securities and Trade Fee and the TDO to curb cash laundering and funding scams involving digital belongings. In February 2025, the SEC stated it had labored with the TDO, the Financial institution of Thailand, the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, the Central Investigation Bureau, the Anti-Cash Laundering Workplace and the Thai Bankers’ Affiliation to determine extra safeguards towards mule accounts.
That effort led to Thai digital asset operators reportedly freezing 47,692 mule accounts in 2025.
The TDO represents licensed digital asset operators in Thailand, together with exchanges and brokers.
Cointelegraph has contacted the TDO for touch upon the overall worth of frozen funds however had not acquired a response by publication.
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SEC, TDO workforce as much as combat mule crypto accounts
Throughout the February 2025 workshop, the SEC and TDO joined different regulators, police companies and banking teams to develop extra measures for figuring out and proscribing suspicious accounts.
“The SEC and the TDO have collectively developed pointers for monitoring and investigating suspicious accounts,” SEC Deputy Secretary-Normal Jomkwan Kongsakul stated on the time.
“In as we speak’s assembly, aside from enhancing trade requirements to deal with digital asset mule accounts, we’ve got issued measures for addressing various kinds of mule accounts inside an expedited timeframe,” she added.
The companies additionally agreed to increase data-sharing pointers amongst crypto operators, banks and legislation enforcement companies to assist stop transfers to suspected mule accounts.
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The newest reported freezes come as Thailand launched a marketing campaign towards so-called “grey cash,” tightening oversight throughout bodily gold markets and digital belongings to shut money-laundering loopholes, Cointelegraph reported on Jan. 13.
For crypto exercise, the federal government ordered the SEC to strictly implement the Journey Rule, requiring licensed crypto asset service suppliers to gather and transmit figuring out details about the sender and recipient of sure digital asset transactions, significantly in wallet-to-wallet transfers facilitated by exchanges.
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