How a crypto exchange secretly hid $53M in stolen crypto to prevent a bank run – as the SEC targets its directors
Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a felony grievance towards Bitkub Online and two former directors, alleging that the crypto exchange submitted day by day net-capital stories, recognized as Form DA 1, that failed to present the impact of a 2021 theft involving about 1.7 billion baht (roughly $53 million) in buyer belongings.
The July 23, 2026, complaint to Thailand’s Economic Crime Suppression Division names Sakolkorn Sakavee and Thaweesap Rawan, who the SEC stated had been accountable for the stories after they had been Bitkub directors. The regulator alleges that Bitkub gave false statements and that the two former directors made false entries in firm paperwork.
According to the SEC, a May 2021 cyberattack brought on buyer belongings throughout 16 cryptocurrencies to be withdrawn from the exchange. Bitkub’s Form DA 1 stories from May 10 via Oct. 30, 2021, confirmed no materials change in its asset stability from the theft, conduct the regulator stated amounted to false reporting.
The SEC stated subsequent data indicated that Bitkub started procuring substitute digital belongings on Oct. 31, 2021. The regulator didn’t say when that substitute course of was accomplished.
Bitkub says it feared a bank run
In its response to the complaint, Bitkub acknowledged that personnel accountable for firm disclosures selected not to reveal that belongings from one firm pockets had been stolen. The firm stated the determination was meant to prevent a bank run whereas Bitkub was making an attempt to change the belongings. It disputed that the accused people had acted fraudulently.
Bitkub stated its co-founders absorbed the loss by shopping for the similar currencies in the similar portions. It claimed that neither the firm nor its prospects suffered asset losses from the incident.
In a separate September 2025 update, the SEC stated buyer digital belongings held by Bitkub had been protected and full as of Sept. 8, 2025. That discovering coated a later level in time and didn’t settle the regulator’s allegation about what Bitkub reported in 2021.
Asset substitute and regulatory reporting stay separate questions in the grievance. Bitkub says the nondisclosure was meant to avert a bank run; the SEC alleges that the day by day stories failed to present a materials change in the exchange’s belongings earlier than substitute started.
An inquiry official will now examine and resolve whether or not to suggest prosecution, in accordance to the SEC’s criminal-action process. A public prosecutor would then contemplate the file, and a court docket would adjudicate the allegations provided that the case is introduced. The allegations stay unadjudicated.
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