Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has banned crypto companies from offering staking and lending services, according to a press release on Thursday.

The decision to ban "depository services," which includes paying returns to depositors, was made to protect traders from the risks associated with crypto lenders, the release said.

Several crypto lenders including Celsius Network and Babel Finance, as well as exchanges offering lending services, froze withdrawals over the past few months following a downturn in the crypto market, with bitcoin and ether losing over 50% of their value since the turn of the year.

One of the troubled exchanges that halted withdrawals is Zipmex, which has entities in Singapore, Thailand, Australia and Indonesia.

The Thai SEC filed a police complaint against Zipmex last week after the exchange failed to provide transactional information before a deadline. The regulator also asked Zipmex to provide clarity on the withdrawal freeze in July.

Zipmex did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for comment.

Read more: Thai SEC Files Police Complaint Against Crypto Exchange Zipmex