Thai cryptocurrency platform operators have reportedly frozen more than 10,000 accounts suspected of being used to launder illicit funds, as the country steps up efforts to crack down on so-called mule accounts.
The freezes followed the rollout of stricter screening measures aimed at slowing suspicious crypto transfers and requiring additional Know Your Customer checks before higher-risk transactions are completed, according to local reporting from the Bangkok Post on Tuesday.
The tighter process helped operators identify and freeze more than 10,000 suspected mule accounts, Att Thongyai Asavanund, chief executive of KuCoin Thailand and chairman of the Thai Digital Asset Operators Trade Association (TDO), told the Bangkok Post.
The move builds on earlier efforts by Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission and the TDO to curb money laundering and investment scams involving digital assets. In February 2025, the SEC said it had worked with the TDO, the Bank of Thailand, the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, the Central Investigation Bureau, the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the Thai Bankers’ Association to establish additional safeguards against 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, including exchanges and brokers.
Cointelegraph has contacted the TDO for comment on the total value of frozen funds but had not received a response by publication.
Related: Thailand approves crypto as underlying assets in derivatives markets
SEC, TDO team up to fight mule crypto accounts
During the February 2025 workshop, the SEC and TDO joined other regulators, police agencies and banking groups to develop additional measures for identifying and restricting suspicious accounts.
“The SEC and the TDO have jointly developed guidelines for monitoring and investigating suspicious accounts,” SEC Deputy Secretary-General Jomkwan Kongsakul said at the time.
“In today’s meeting, apart from enhancing industry standards to tackle digital asset mule accounts, we have issued measures for addressing different types of mule accounts within an expedited timeframe,” she added.
The agencies also agreed to expand data-sharing guidelines among crypto operators, banks and law enforcement agencies to help prevent transfers to suspected mule accounts.
Related: Bithumb faces possible six-month partial suspension in South Korea
The latest reported freezes come as Thailand launched a campaign against so-called “gray money,” tightening oversight across physical gold markets and digital assets to close money-laundering loopholes, Cointelegraph reported on Jan. 13.
For crypto activity, the government ordered the SEC to strictly enforce the Travel Rule, requiring licensed crypto asset service providers to collect and transmit identifying information about the sender and recipient of certain digital asset transactions, particularly in wallet-to-wallet transfers facilitated by exchanges.
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