Thailand's SEC opens its stock exchange to bitcoin and ether ETFs

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand has issued rules allowing local asset managers to create bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds, opening a regulated route for Thai investors to gain exposure to crypto through the country's stock exchange.

The rules take effect on 16 October. Crypto ETFs must trade on the Stock Exchange of Thailand and track a single cryptocurrency, with at least 80 per cent of a fund's net asset value exposed to that asset. Bitcoin and ether will be the only eligible cryptocurrencies in the initial phase, the regulator said.

Investors will have to confirm they understand the risks before buying. Brokers cannot lend clients money to buy crypto, and the funds' crypto holdings must be held with custodians regulated by Thailand's SEC. Thai asset managers may outsource crypto investment management to licensed digital-asset fund managers, and regulated digital-asset custodians and other qualified firms will be able to register as fund supervisors for crypto ETFs.

The SEC also amended its rules to let mutual funds and private funds invest in Thai crypto ETFs, subject to existing investment limits. In the initial phase, it will not allow products that give non-institutional clients indirect access to foreign crypto ETFs, such as depositary receipts.

Until now, Thailand has allowed only institutional and wealthy investors to invest in foreign crypto ETFs, and the regulator said last year that it wanted to broaden the market beyond bitcoin. The change follows its 2025 plan to expand its ETF offering beyond bitcoin. Estimates cited alongside the announcement put Thai crypto ownership at about 20 per cent of the population, above the U.S. at 13 per cent and Nigeria, the Philippines and South Africa at roughly 19.4 per cent.