Thailand has one of the world’s highest law enforcement requests related to cryptocurrency exchange globally, with more than 1,800 requests for investigation in last year alone, says Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.
These law enforcement requests are from concerned agencies are relatively high compared with 65,000 such requests received last year from all agencies worldwide.
The reported requests span a broad range of complaints, including investment fraud, account hacking and money laundering. Illicit activities involving crypto, such as money laundering, might surge in parallel with the increase in crypto adoption, according to Binance.
For money laundering via cryptocurrency, most traders tend to change fiat currency to stablecoins, then quickly transfer it to a digital asset exchanges outside the country and change it to cash again.
There are many methods, some of which involve stealthily moving money into a mule account, then transferring it to a crypto account and changing it to stablecoins, before changing it back to cash again, said Jarek Jakubcek, head of law enforcement training at Binance.
To address the emerging challenges, Binance has been collaborating with the cyberpolice of each country to monitor and investigate the wrongdoings, he said.
“At Binance, we recognise that securing the digital environment is only possible through deeply collaborative efforts by both the public and private sectors and we are dedicated to facilitating and driving such efforts. Broad cooperation and commitment are needed to pursue justice in the digital space, and we look forward to keeping the momentum going,” said Mr Jakubcek.
It is ever more critical for law enforcement officers to be equipped with up-to-date skills and knowledge in handling crypto-related investigations, he said.
In his view, the Thai police are quite active in investigating and following up a large number of complaints. The success of the investigation will be expedited if there is cooperation from the private sector, Mr Jakubcek noted.
“When there is more money involved, there are more criminals involved. Investors must be careful, use common sense, use technological knowledge to protect account access as much as possible. Understanding and knowledge will help protect against scammers to some extent.”
Binance's defence method is to use know your customer processes to verify a customer's identity.
Binance TH, a locally regulated exchange, has been working closely with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bank of Thailand to identify suspicious activities.
Nirun Fuwattananukul, chief executive of Gulf Binance, said the fight against crypto-related crimes requires more than just individual action.
“It demands a unified, multi-stakeholder approach, bringing together financial institutions, technology providers, law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies,” he said.
Binance's experience showed that when regulatory frameworks are combined with advanced technology and cross-border collaboration, it can effectively combat sophisticated crypto-related schemes while maintaining Thailand's position as a leader in digital finance.
“This isn't just about enforcement, it's about building trust in our digital financial ecosystem for generations to come,” said Mr Nirun.
