Thai SEC Fines Bitkub CTO $235K and Prohibits Him From Taking Top Position for a Year Due to Insider Trading
- According to the Thai SEC, Bitkub’s CTO is in breach of the Digital Asset Business Royal Decree of 2018.
- The Thai SEC began the investigation after Siam Commercial Bank, a publicly traded company, showed major interest in Bitkub cryptocurrency exchange.
- According to the SEC, on November 2, 2021, KUB token price increased compared to the period before the disclosure.
Thailand’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily traded volume, Bitkub, is facing timeline uncertainty from the country’s regulators. Less than a week after Siam Commercial Bank, the country’s oldest bank, backed out of a deal with Bitkub, Thai SEC is on its activities.
Notably, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced civil sanctions against Samrong Wachanasathien, Chief Technology Officer of Bitkub, for insider trading. According to the announcement, Wachanasathien is charged with the purchase of the digital token of Bitkub Coin KUB as a person who knows or possesses inside information.
Consequently, Wachanasathien is expected to pay a total of 8,530,383 baht or approximately $235k and will not serve any top positions including a director or executive of any company for the next twelve months.
The Thai SEC began the investigation after Siam Commercial Bank, a publicly traded company, showed major interest in the cryptocurrency exchange.
“The results of the SEC’s audit revealed that SCB Banking Group and BCGH Company Limited started negotiating the trading of BO’s shares since August 2021 and from 4 September – 2 November 2021 prior to the disclosure of such inside information. Mr. Samraj, who served as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of BBT, has continued to buy large amounts of KUB coins in the amount of 61,107.66 dollars, worth 1,994,966.56 baht, which is different from the behavior before such insider information,” the SEC noted.
According to the SEC, on November 2, 2021, KUB token price increased compared to the period before the disclosure. Whereby, the SEC stated that KUB token price hit 99.99 baht on the higher end during that day, an increase of 101 percent, before the Siam Commercial Bank disclosed the purchase information.
Thereby, the Thai SEC concluded that Bitkub’s CTO is in breach of the Digital Asset Business Royal Decree of 2018.
Bitkub and the Cryptocurrency Market Outlook
The cryptocurrency market is in the early years of its second decade in existence. Already, two countries, El Salvador and the Central African Republic have adopted Bitcoin as legal tender. Many other nations have passed laws that are cryptocurrency friendly to enhance blockchain adoption.
Furthermore, Russia and Iran are looking into adopting cryptocurrency payments to circumnavigate the stringent sanctions imposed.
Meanwhile, other nations are studying cryptocurrency and blockchain developments to advise on the way forward.
For Thailand, the country’s lawmakers are keen to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, as digital assets adoption is fast eating away at the traditional banking sector.
Bitkub, as one of the largest crypto-oriented firms, faces more uncertainty as regulations are yet to be made clear. Founded in February 2018, Bitkub, the company is a registered capital of 290 million baht with an office space based in Bangkok.
According to market data provided by Coinmarketcap, the global crypto market cap is $971.42B, 0.67 percent down in the past 24 hours. Worth noting, that the total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $69.36B, representing an 11.44 percent decline.
The total traded volume in DeFi and stablecoins today is $5.33B, and $62B respectively.
Rebecca is a Senior Staff Writer at BitcoinWisdom, working hard to bring you the latest breaking news in the cryptocurrency market. In the words of Elon Musk “Buy stock in several companies that make products & services that *you* believe in. Only sell if you think their products & services are trending worse. Don’t panic when the market does. This will serve you well in the long-term.”
