Bitcoin Cash [BCH], Ethereum Classic, Litecoin booted by Thailand SEC

The Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] has shown the door to three of the top cryptocurrencies in the market and now they cannot be used as an investment tool in the country’s initial coin offerings [ICOs] and as a base in trading pairs. Among those booted out are Bitcoin Cash [BCH], Ethereum Classic [ETC] and Litecoin [LTC].

Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], XRP, and Stellar Lumens [XLM] have not been given the boot by the SEC and can still be used for investment purposes in the country’s growing ICO market and can also be used as base pairs.

The SEC stated:

“Currently, there are four cryptocurrencies that can be used for base trading pairs. They are bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), ripple (XRP), and stellar (XLM).”

Despite these three coins being used as investment tools in ICOs, the SEC stated that they will not be considered legal tender and cannot be used to pay off any outstanding debts.

The addition and deletion of the list is based on the development in the cryptocurrency market, ongoing news, market liquidity, their decentralized system and their viability of being used as trading pairs with other virtual currencies, according to the SEC.

On the matter of removing BCH, ETC, and LTC, the financial watchdog said:

“In any case, the list update has no impact on investors or digital asset businesses because so far no ICO has been launched and the operating digital asset exchanges have never used BCH, ETC or LTC as base trading pairs.”

Earlier, in July 2018, Thailand’s financial regulatory body stated that if a company wanted to engage in a token sale, they would have to file an application with the SEC for approval. Back then, only seven cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar Lumens, and Ethereum Classic were permitted to be used in such an investment, with the country’s national currency, the Baht [TBH] the only fiat currency on the list.

The SEC stated at the beginning of 2019 that the crypto-centric companies that had begun operations prior to the regulations taking effect would be given licenses. Currently, there are only three cryptocurrency exchanges and one broker-dealer that hold a license, which include Bitcoin Exchange, Bitkub, Satang Pro and Coins Th, the sole licensed broker-dealer.

Furthermore, in January, Thailand’s National Stock Exchange was looking to launch a cryptocurrency exchange. The Stock Exchange of Thailand [SET] is gearing up to apply for a digital license from the Finance Ministry, allowing it to trade cryptocurrencies.