Thai SEC Alleges Bitkub Hid 2021 Hack, Files Criminal Complaint

The SEC alleged Bitkub breached Thailand's digital asset business decree by submitting false information. The regulator said former directors Sakolkorn Sakavee and Thaweesap Rawan, who were responsible for the filings, bear the same liability as the company and face a further allegation of making false entries in company documents to deceive.

Clean filings, missing losses

The 10 May 2021 exploit involved 16 digital assets, the SEC said. Bitkub's daily net capital reports, known as Form DA 1, still showed no material reduction in assets from that date until 30 Oct 2021. The regulator said Bitkub procured replacement assets as from 31 Oct 2021.

Bitkub said its co-founders voluntarily absorbed the loss by buying digital assets of the same type and quantity. An individual responsible for the disclosures, whom the company did not name, had chosen not to report the hack of one of its wallets in order to prevent a bank run – mass withdrawals of digital assets by customers, it said in a 23 Jul LinkedIn post.

"All customers' assets currently held by the Company are safe and fully accounted for," the post said.

The complaint addresses the accuracy of the filings rather than the reimbursement, which the SEC acknowledged in its statement.

Co-founder claims sole responsibility

Sakolkorn, a co-founder and former chairman of Bitkub Capital Group Holdings, posted a video to his personal Facebook account hours after the announcement, saying he had altered and signed the filings alone, without informing fellow directors, executives or employees.

As the director holding signing authority, he said, the decision and the responsibility were his. He apologized, resigned from Bitkub's boards and pledged full cooperation with regulators.

Prior penalties, collapsed deal

In July 2022, the SEC imposed civil sanctions on Bitkub Online, Sakolkorn and the exchange's market maker over trading volume fabricated in 2019, totalling 24mn baht (about $670k at the time) across the three, and barred Sakolkorn from serving as a director or executive for 12 months. It separately ordered the exchange to review its listing of KUB, its own token.

Those issues also derailed a takeover. In November 2021, SCB Securities, the brokerage arm of SCBX – the holding company for Siam Commercial Bank, Thailand's oldest lender – agreed to buy 51% of Bitkub Online from Bitkub Capital Group Holdings for about 17.85bn baht ($500mn at the time). On 25 Aug 2022, the two sides terminated the agreement by mutual consent before completion and without any shares changing hands. SCBX said due diligence had turned up no irremediable problems at the exchange, but that the timeframe for Bitkub to resolve the SEC's recommendations and orders was uncertain. SCBX shares closed 5.74% higher that day.

Hong Kong listing complication

Bitkub's standing at home is contested. The Bangkok Post reported that Binance TH has overtaken it by trading volume, and that its share of Thai crypto trading, once above 90%, has fallen to about half that or less. CoinGecko, whose Thailand listing does not cover Binance TH, showed Bitkub with the highest 24-hour volume among the exchanges it tracks there on 27 Jul.

KUB traded at $0.65 at 08:00UTC on 27 Jul, about 96% below its December 2021 peak, with a market value of about $45mn.

Udomsak Rakwongwan, co-founder of derivatives platform FWX and a lecturer at Kasetsart University, told the Bangkok Post the exchange faces gradual decline rather than sudden collapse, and that years of undisclosed information and governance questions could make raising capital and attracting partners considerably harder.

The group is weighing a Hong Kong initial public offering of about $200mn, Bloomberg reported in November 2025, having shelved plans for a Stock Exchange of Thailand listing.

A police investigation, a prosecutor's review and possible court proceedings would follow the complaint.