Thailand’s Securities and Change Fee filed a felony grievance Thursday in opposition to BG Restricted, the operator of cryptocurrency change Bitget, alleging it ran an unlicensed digital-asset change for Thai customers from 2022 to 2025, and notified the federal government to dam the platform from Dec. 5.
The grievance, lodged with the Financial Crime Suppression Division, additionally names Mr. Kritsana Kritsananuwat as an alleged supporter who promoted Bitget by means of Fb and YouTube channels, the SEC said in assertion No. 241/2026.
From 2022 by means of 2025, the regulator discovered, Bitget provided a buying and selling system within the peculiar course of enterprise, charged charges, ran a Thai-language web site that might present values in baht, and solicited Thai customers on social channels together with “Bitget Thailand” on X, “BGB Thai Holder” on Telegram and “bitgetthailand” on TikTok.
That conduct quantities to working a digital-asset change underneath Part 3 of the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Companies B.E. 2561 (2018) with no license, a violation of Part 26 punishable underneath Part 66, the SEC stated. The case now strikes to an inquiry official, then prosecutors and the courts.
Individually, the SEC submitted Bitget’s web site, different domains and its app to the Ministry of Digital Economic system and Society underneath a 2025 royal decree that authorizes entry blocks on unlicensed buying and selling platforms. From Dec. 5, the general public “will likely be unable to entry the platform,” the statement stated, and buyers nonetheless holding belongings there have been informed to contemplate appearing earlier than the cutoff.
A licensed path that now sits subsequent to a felony case
The enforcement push lands weeks after Bitget announced a deliberate acquisition of GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics (Thailand), a Bangkok digital-asset change and brokerage that already holds Thai licenses, by means of its curiosity in BTGT Administration (Thailand) Ltd.
Beneath that deal, GMO Web and its Thai holding firm would switch their complete stake in GMO-Z — about 49% and 50.94%, respectively — to BTGT or a designee at completion, a Sept. 24 GMO Web filing confirmed. Bitget stated completion stays topic to regulatory approval and, after a change-of-control nod, it intends to introduce its buying and selling platform to Thai customers underneath native guidelines.
“Thailand is a vital a part of Southeast Asia’s digital asset panorama, and this acquisition provides us an incredible alternative to ascertain native operations,” Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said within the Oct. 20 launch.
The timetable has already slipped. GMO Web Group pushed the efficient date of the share switch from Oct. 31 to Nov. 30, citing cautious work on Thai regulatory purposes and shutting procedures. That revised date sits 5 days earlier than the deliberate Bitget entry block.
CoinDesk reported that Bitget’s personal phrases of use, up to date in October, already record Thailand amongst jurisdictions the place its companies are prohibited, and that the SEC has not stated whether or not the felony grievance will weigh on the GMO-Z change of management.
What the block does and doesn’t settle
Thailand has used the identical access-blocking instrument earlier than. In mid-2025 the SEC referred Bybit, OKX and three different unlicensed platforms for a June 28 cutoff, telling customers to maneuver belongings first. The Bitget motion follows that template — and provides a felony grievance in opposition to the change operator and a named promoter.
Licensed venues nonetheless sit on the middle of Bangkok’s coverage combine. Thailand has approved a multi-year capital-gains tax break just for trades on SEC-regulated platforms, and has been expanding regulated crypto merchandise in derivatives and capital markets. Unlicensed platforms get the alternative therapy: investor alerts, entry blocks and, now for Bitget, a police referral.
What is just not but clear is whether or not a felony case in opposition to BG Restricted for the 2022–2025 interval bars, slows or leaves untouched BTGT’s bid to take over a licensed native operator. The SEC assertion doesn’t point out GMO-Z. Bitget has not publicly answered the grievance in a press release posted with the acquisition launch.
For Thai customers nonetheless on Bitget, the sensible clock is Dec. 5. For Bitget, the take a look at is whether or not Nov. 30 closes a regulated door into Thailand — or whether or not the grievance filed Thursday makes that licensed path the following query the ECD and the SEC should reply.
