Thailand’s crypto business is going through recent regulatory scrutiny after authorities accused Bitkub, one of many nation’s largest digital asset exchanges, of offering false data to regulators.
Thailand’s Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) filed a felony grievance towards Bitkub On-line and two former administrators over alleged false reporting linked to a 2021 cyberattack, the regulator introduced on Thursday.
The grievance names former Bitkub administrators Sakolkorn Sakavee and Thaweesap Rawan, who the SEC mentioned have been liable for submitting firm stories through the interval beneath investigation.
The case comes as Bitkub’s father or mother firm considers a possible public itemizing, placing renewed consideration on transparency and governance at one in all Thailand’s most distinguished crypto companies.
SEC alleges Bitkub did not disclose affect of hack
The SEC mentioned a cyberattack in Might 2021 resulted within the theft of 16 sorts of digital belongings from Bitkub, price about 1.7 billion baht ($50 million).
The regulator alleged that Bitkub later changed the stolen belongings by Oct. 31, 2021, however did not precisely mirror the affect of the incident in its every day web liquid capital stories.
In accordance with the SEC, stories submitted between Might 10 and Oct. 30, 2021, didn’t present a major discount within the trade’s belongings following the theft.
Former Bitkub administrators Sakolkorn Sakavee (left) and Thaweesap Rawan. Supply: Bangkok Put up
The regulator alleged that the omission appeared that buyer belongings remained unchanged and that the trade had not suffered losses from the assault.
The SEC accused Bitkub and the previous administrators of violating a number of provisions of Thailand’s digital asset laws over the alleged false disclosures. The case will now proceed by investigation, doable prosecution and court docket proceedings.
Bitkub says disclosure delayed to forestall financial institution run
Bitkub disputed the SEC’s allegations in a submit on X, saying the case stems from disclosure selections made after the Might 2021 cyberattack slightly than fraudulent conduct. The trade mentioned it delayed disclosing the pockets compromise to forestall a financial institution run whereas it addressed the lack of the stolen belongings.
The corporate mentioned its co-founders later bought equal digital belongings to cowl the stolen funds, leaving neither the corporate nor its prospects with monetary losses. The corporate added that it has since strengthened its governance, compliance and safety programs.
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Based in 2018, Bitkub has emerged as one of many largest crypto exchanges in Thailand. In accordance with CoinGecko, the platform ranks first amongst Thai crypto exchanges by belief rating and had about $712 million in every day buying and selling quantity at publishing time.
Supply: CoinGecko
In December 2025, Bitkub confirmed to Cointelegraph it was contemplating an preliminary public providing (IPO), together with a possible itemizing in Hong Kong.
Cointelegraph reached out to Bitkub for extra touch upon the SEC’s grievance and its IPO plans however had not acquired a response by publication.
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