Thailand drafts rules for local crypto ETFs

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission opened public consultation on draft rules for locally listed spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs. The same package also sets qualification standards for foreign custodians serving Thai funds that hold digital assets.

The draft rules

The regulator moved from broad principles, floated in April, to actual draft text. Comments are open until September 20.

• Each ETF must hold average net exposure of at least 80% of NAV to a single asset over each accounting year, per the Cointelegraph report.
• Only two assets qualify for the initial phase: Bitcoin and Ether.
• ETFs would trade exclusively on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, with no depositary receipts on foreign crypto ETFs allowed yet.
• Onshore digital asset custodians remain the primary requirement, with foreign custodians permitted only "when necessary and appropriate."
• The April consultation drew mostly supportive feedback, with custody arrangements as the main sticking point.

Custody comes first

The default read treats this as another jurisdiction lining up for spot crypto ETFs, following the well-worn US and Hong Kong path. That framing undersells what Thailand actually built here: a custody gate before a product gate.

Onshore custodians stay primary by design, not by accident. Foreign providers only get in when the SEC decides conditions warrant it, and even then they need a supervisor with real legal power over them.

That sequencing matters more than the ETF wrapper itself. Thailand isn't racing to list a product first and patch custody rules later, the way several markets did.

It's building the plumbing standard first, then letting the ETF sit on top of it. The 80% exposure floor and single-asset-per-fund structure are conservative, closer to a rulebook that expects institutional money than a market chasing retail flow.

Two assets, one exchange, mostly onshore custody: this is a controlled pilot, not a launch.

What comes next

The consultation window and the custody carve-out are the two levers that will show whether Thailand tightens or loosens its grip once real capital shows up.

• Whether the final rule keeps the 80%-of-NAV exposure threshold or lowers it after the September 20 comment period closes.
• Which foreign custodians, if any, get approved once the SEC defines "necessary and appropriate" in the finalized text.
• Whether asset managers file to launch ETFs on the Stock Exchange of Thailand within the first year of the framework going live.