The Thailand SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission) has reprimanded That’s leading cryptocurrency exchange Bitkub for the 2nd time within 30 days. Why is the trading platform enduring all that? Let us discuss the details.
New Month, Another Legal Battle
The official statement by the market regulator highlighted the constituents on the suit filed and confirmed that the trading exchange, plus two related individuals, faced civil sanction for indulging in wash trading.
Wash trading comes when an entity buys and sells an asset within a short timeframe to raise the impression of a lucrative trading volume. Also, the SEC demanded the offenders pay civil fines worth $634,000 (24,161,291 baht) to compensate for the expenses the regulator incurred during the research.
Moreover, the watchdog advised the public prosecutor to suspend the offenders from partaking in trading undertakings related to digital coins or assets futures contracts for six months. The Thailand Securities & Exchange Commission fined Bitkub CTO Samret Wajanasathian $235,000 (8.5 million baht) (last month) over KUB insider trading.
Moreover, the event had the exec barred from assuming the executive status for twelve months. Early in May 2022, The SEC’s Criminal Fining Committee fined Bitkub for failure to adhere to the SEC’s digital coin listing guidelines.
Also, the regulator highlighted the conflict of interest following the exchange’s listing of its token, KUB, and how the parties didn’t follow protection measures during the process. Five members from the assessment selection committee faced charges for non-compliance, paying 2.5 million baht each in fines. Also, the exchange endured a similar penalty.
Effects of Controversies
Bitkub’s battle with the regulator had one of its top deals scrapped. The exchange hit the news in November last year following the headlines that Thailand’s leading bank SBC communicated with the trading platform to buy a 51% stake, a deal worth 17.85 billion baht, coming out to approximately $537 million during the time.
This acquisition would have given Siam Commercial Bank controlling interest in the exchange. The parties were to complete the deal in Q1 2022. Meanwhile, the deal announcement propelled Bitkub’s valuation by billions of dollars while tripling KUB in value.
On 25 August, SBC confirmed halting the half-billion deal to buy a massive stake in the exchange, citing unresolved legal issues with the Thai regulator.
