There is now a country that bans Dogecoin and other memes

Crypto crackdown! There is now a country where the Dogecoins of this world are banned.

The country is not really close to our little country, but Thailand has now imposed restrictions on cryptocurrency trading. The Southeast Asian country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has banned meme coins such as Dogecoin. Last week, exchanges were ordered to remove the coins, along with NFTs, utility tokens and social tokens, within 30 days.

Dogecoin and other meme coins banned in Thailand

According to the country’s SEC, the new rules are designed to protect traders (particularly like buyers you and me) from the excesses of the digital meme coins. Specifically, the coins they mean are those that “have no clear purpose or content.” Prices are influenced by social media trends and influencers.

Dogecoin, in particular, has seen its online buzz skyrocket, thanks to mentions from Elon Musk. The price goes up and down, but can also be influenced with one stupid tweet. Many people can then lose money, and that is against the sore leg of Thailand. On the other hand, El Salvador recently became the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender.

NFTs. Also banned.

The Thai government is making good progress, and NFTs have also been banned. The NFTs have become extremely popular this year. The assets essentially allow to tokenize unique digital art purchases, acting as certificates of ownership. Actually a very smart idea. But also quite impressionable according to the SEC. Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, has bought many NFTs and pushed the price up considerably.

This crackdown by the Thai government stems from its drive to regulate the crypto market. The government has been working on this for some time, also to combat money laundering. Whether other countries near Thailand will follow, that remains to be seen.