Thailand’s largest crypto exchange Bitkub hit with wash-trading allegations
Thailand’s largest crypto exchange Bitkub faces new regulatory scrutiny for the second time in the span of two months over falsifying and creating artificial trading volume on its platform.
A filing from the country's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shows that the SEC will take legal action against Bitkub, as well as its two named representatives Anurak Chuachai and Sakon Srakawee, claiming that all three parties created artificial volumes of digital assets, also known as a process called wash trading.
Wash-trading refers to an illegal form of trading where investors buy and sell assets at the same time to feed misleading information in the market to manipulate profits.
The lawsuit claims expenses of around THB24,161,292 ($635,000, £588,000) from Bitkub, with Anurak and Sakon also facing a six-month trading prohibition.
ETH to THB
Second SEC probe in two months
Founded in 2018, Bangkok-based Bitkub has 75 coins available on its exchange with a 24 hour trading volume at $58,920,010.48, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
The exchange faced a similar allegation just last month as the SEC fined Bitkub’s chief technology officer Samrong Wachanasathien a total of THB8.5m ($223,000, £206,000) for alleged insider trading.
The filing also states that Wachanasathien will face a prohbation period of 12 months.
SBC abandons acquisition deal
The fresh allegations are a hefty blow for the exchange after Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank (SBC) announced it would abandon its acqusition plans following its November 2021 announcement to buy a 51% stake and become the largest shareholder.
At the time of the announcement, SBC CEO Arthid Nanthawithaya said the move was in line with the bank’s strategy “to upgrade to a financial technology group” in order to meet growing consumers demands in a competitive crypto arena.
The deal was set to be around $535m, with the bank citing regulatory concerns over its decision, according to Reuters.
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