Thailand’s top market regulator has lodged a criminal complaint against Bitkub Online, accusing the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and two of its former directors of filing misleading capital reports in the aftermath of a 2021 cyberattack that saw digital assets worth about 1.7 billion baht ($50m) stolen.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Bitkub Online, along with ex-directors Sakolkorn Sakavee and Thaweesap Rawan, is alleged to have submitted daily net liquid capital reports that failed to reflect the loss of the exchange’s digital assets between 10 May and 30 October 2021.
According to the SEC’s announcement, the reports did not show the reduction in Bitkub’s holdings following a hack in May 2021 in which attackers made off with 16 different cryptocurrencies. Regulators say the omission gave the impression that customer assets were unaffected and that the platform had not incurred losses from the breach.
Investigators noted that Bitkub had replaced the stolen assets by 31 October 2021. However, the SEC argues that the theft and its impact on the exchange’s balance sheet should still have appeared in the daily reports submitted during the months after the incident. The complaint alleges multiple breaches of Thailand’s digital asset regulations arising from the supposedly inaccurate disclosures.
The SEC confirmed that the case will now proceed through Thailand’s criminal investigation system. Any decision on whether to press formal charges or move to court proceedings will be taken at a later stage by the relevant authorities.
Bitkub denies fraud and customer loss
In a statement posted on X, Bitkub said the dispute centres on the timing of its disclosure of the compromised wallet, rather than any allegation of fraud or financial harm to users.
The exchange said it chose to delay publicising the security breach while it worked to address the situation, arguing that an immediate announcement risked sparking a run on the platform. Bitkub said its co-founders subsequently bought an equivalent amount of digital assets to replace the stolen tokens, and that neither customers nor the company ultimately suffered financial losses.
The firm added that, since the incident, it has reinforced its governance arrangements, compliance processes and security safeguards.
Leading Thai exchange under heightened scrutiny
Founded in 2018, Bitkub has grown into the dominant player in Thailand’s cryptocurrency market. Data from CoinGecko ranks the platform as the country’s top exchange by trust score, with daily trading volumes of around $712m at the time of the original report.
The SEC’s complaint lands as Bitkub continues to weigh a potential stock market debut. In December 2025, the company confirmed it was examining the possibility of an initial public offering, including a potential listing in Hong Kong.
Cointelegraph reported that it had sought further comment from Bitkub on both the SEC action and its IPO plans, but had not received a response by the time of publication.
Part of broader Thai clampdown on digital assets
The move against Bitkub comes amid a broader tightening of oversight across Thailand’s digital asset and wider financial system.
Earlier this month, local outlet Thansettakij reported that the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and the SEC had begun scrutinising high-value stablecoin transfers after detecting transactions that may have circumvented standard financial reporting rules. BOT Governor Vitai Ratanakorn was quoted as saying that authorities were deploying data analytics tools to monitor large movements, particularly those involving Tether’s USDT, while they assess whether further regulatory measures are necessary.
Regulators have also intensified checks on substantial cash deposits and withdrawals, gold transactions and bank accounts linked to online gambling, as part of efforts to combat money laundering, the report said.
At the same time, Thailand has been moving to formalise and expand its regulated crypto sector. In February, the government approved amendments that recognise cryptocurrencies as eligible underlying assets under the Derivatives Trading Act, paving the way for regulated futures and options contracts tied to digital assets such as Bitcoin. The SEC was subsequently tasked with drawing up detailed licensing conditions and contract standards for market participants.
The regulator later put forward proposals to relax licensing rules for digital asset businesses by allowing firms to obtain derivatives licences through a single corporate entity, rather than being required to set up multiple companies.
During the consultation period, SEC Secretary-General Pornanong Budsaratragoon said the changes were intended to support the development of crypto as an investment asset class, while giving investors access to additional regulated products under “appropriate supervisory safeguards”.
