Bitget plans Thai exchange acquisition after $388 million hack

Bitget said on Oct. 20 that it plans to acquire GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics (Thailand), the licensed Bangkok exchange and brokerage owned by Japan's GMO Internet, and use the purchase to bring its trading platform to Thai users. Completion depends on regulatory approval and other closing conditions, the company said.

The purchase runs through BTGT Management (Thailand) Ltd., a company formed on Sept. 22 with 2 million Thai baht of share capital, in which Bitget says it holds an interest. GMO Internet's board approved the sale on Sept. 24 in a filing that named only BTGT as the buyer. Bitget has not disclosed the size of its stake or the price, which GMO withheld at the buyer's request. The Thai company's registration listed a Bangkok address and no disclosed connection to Bitget when the filing first surfaced.

GMO Internet holds 49% of the exchange directly and its Thai holding company holds 50.94%. All 7,349,446 shares are set to change hands. GMO expects the expected effective date of the share transfer to be Oct. 31, and BTGT's major shareholders will have to clear Thai Securities and Exchange Commission rules on major-shareholder approval. Unchained reported the share structure and the pending approval timeline; Cointelegraph published Bitget's announcement and CEO Gracy Chen's comment that Thailand is an important part of Southeast Asia's digital asset market.

The deal follows a Sept. 24 attack on Bitget's hot and warm wallets in which about $388 million was affected after attackers exploited a vulnerability in a third-party security product and issued fraudulent withdrawal commands, according to the company's incident account. Bitget said customer balances were unaffected and completed phased restoration of withdrawals on Oct. 2.

Bitget's terms of use, updated Oct. 16, list Thailand among prohibited jurisdictions. The acquisition would provide a route to serving the market through a locally licensed operator once the change of control clears. Thai rules require major shareholders of licensed digital asset businesses to pass fit-and-proper checks, and the SEC has not yet published a decision on the BTGT application.

Thai SEC rules require major shareholders of licensed digital asset businesses to pass fit-and-proper checks that examine source of funds, criminal record and group structure. BTGT Management (Thailand) Ltd. was incorporated only weeks before GMO's board approved the sale, which means the regulator will review a newly formed vehicle rather than an operating history. GMO Internet has said the transfer date is expected to be Oct. 31 but that the effective date still depends on those approvals.

The acquisition would hand Bitget a licensed local entity without building one from scratch under Thai rules, which have tightened since 2024. Licensed Thai exchanges face capital requirements, custody rules and restrictions on serving non-resident clients. Bitget's global platform currently lists Thailand among prohibited jurisdictions in its terms of use, so any post-acquisition retail launch would need a separate product design for Thai users rather than simply pointing existing global accounts at the local entity.

The Sept. 24 hack remains the backdrop for the deal. Attackers exploited a vulnerability in a third-party security product to issue fraudulent withdrawal commands from hot and warm wallets. Bitget said customer balances were unaffected, completed phased withdrawal restoration by Oct. 2, and published an incident timeline. CEO Gracy Chen has framed the Thai purchase as expansion during recovery rather than as a response to the breach. GMO Internet's disclosure did not mention the hack.

GMO Internet's disclosure sequence matters for how the market learned of the deal. The Sept. 24 filing named only BTGT as the buyer, with price withheld at the buyer's request. Bitget did not confirm its connection until Oct. 20, after media reports had already linked the Bangkok company to the exchange. That lag is unusual for an acquisition of a regulated venue and suggests confidentiality terms in the share purchase agreement.

Thai digital asset exchanges operate under Securities and Exchange Commission supervision with rules covering custody, cybersecurity and client asset segregation. Acquiring a licensed entity transfers those obligations to the buyer once change of control clears. Bitget would inherit GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics' existing client book, if any, and its compliance program, which may need upgrading to Bitget's global standards before the platform is rebranded or integrated.