Bitkub hid $53M theft to prevent bank run, SEC alleges in criminal complaint

Thailand's securities regulator filed a criminal complaint against Bitkub Online and two former directors on July 23, 2026, alleging the exchange submitted daily net-capital reports that concealed a roughly $53 million theft of customer assets. The complaint to the Economic Crime Suppression Division names Sakolkorn Sakavee and Thaweesap Rawan, who the Securities and Exchange Commission said were responsible for the reports at the time. The SEC alleges Bitkub gave false statements and that the two former directors made false entries in company documents.

According to the SEC, a May 2021 cyberattack caused customer assets across 16 cryptocurrencies to be withdrawn from Bitkub. The exchange's Form DA 1 reports from May 10 through Oct. 30, 2021, showed no material change in asset balance from the theft. The regulator described that as false reporting. The SEC said subsequent information indicated Bitkub began procuring replacement digital assets on Oct. 31, 2021. It did not say when that process finished.

Bitkub acknowledged that personnel responsible for disclosures chose not to reveal the theft from one company wallet. The company said the decision aimed to prevent a bank run while it was trying to replace the assets. Bitkub disputed that the accused individuals acted fraudulently. It said co-founders absorbed the loss by buying the same currencies in the same quantities, and that neither the company nor its customers suffered asset losses from the incident.