Thailand's SEC has filed a criminal complaint against crypto exchange Bitkub and two former directors over an undisclosed $47 million hack from May 2021. The regulator alleges the company submitted false daily capital filings for months to hide the theft. A former director has taken responsibility, stating the hack was concealed to prevent a bank run. Bitkub claims customer funds are safe, as its co-founders covered the loss with their own money.
2021 Bitkub hack
- ▪In a May 2021 cyberattack, 16 types of digital assets worth 1.7 billion baht ($47 million) were stolen from the crypto exchange Bitkub
- ▪The theft was not disclosed at the time to avoid a "bank run" of panic withdrawals
SEC criminal complaint
- ▪The complaint was lodged with Thailand's Economic Crime Suppression Division and will be reviewed by police and prosecutors
- ▪Former director Sakolkorn Sakavee apologized, resigned from Bitkub's boards, and pledged to cooperate with regulators
- ▪Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a criminal complaint against crypto exchange Bitkub and two of its former directors
False regulatory filings
- ▪Sakolkorn Sakavee took sole responsibility, stating he altered the filings himself without informing other directors or staff
- ▪The alleged false reports were a breach of Thailand's Digital Asset Business Decree
- ▪Former directors Sakolkorn Sakavee and Thaweesap Rawan are accused of making false entries to mislead the regulator
- ▪The SEC alleges Bitkub's daily net-capital filings from May to October 2021 falsely hid the loss of assets
Customer fund protection
- ▪Bitkub added that the SEC had confirmed its holdings were intact as of September 2025
- ▪Bitkub stated that all customer funds are safe
- ▪Bitkub's co-founders used their own money to buy replacement assets to cover the $47 million theft
Bitkub market position
- ▪According to CoinMarketCap, Binance TH ranks 31st among global exchanges, while Bitkub ranks 68th
- ▪Bitkub, once Thailand's dominant crypto exchange, has been overtaken by Binance's local arm, Binance TH
IPO plans
- ▪Bitkub shelved a planned IPO on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in November 2025 and was considering a $200 million offering in Hong Kong
- ▪The criminal complaint comes as Bitkub is working towards a public listing
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