BOT Unveils Baht-Backed Stablecoin Plans Amid Global Adoption

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) is moving forward with its plan to develop a baht-backed stablecoin, aligning with global financial trends and reducing transaction costs. The central bank's governor, Vitai Ratanakorn, emphasized that the primary objective of the stablecoin is to strengthen Thailand's financial infrastructure by improving payment efficiency and reducing costs.

The proposed stablecoin will operate under a fully-backed reserve model, where every issued coin is backed by an equivalent amount of baht on a 1:1 basis. This means that if a licensed issuer creates 1 billion baht worth of stablecoins, it must simultaneously place 1 billion baht in reserve.

The central bank has outlined strict initial requirements for any stablecoin operating in the country and plans to hold a public hearing on the proposal by year-end. The regulator is collaborating with the Securities and Exchange Commission to study and design the operational framework for the stablecoin, and significant progress has been made so far.