Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a criminal complaint against the operator of Bitget, alleging the exchange ran an unlicensed crypto trading business for Thai users between 2022 and 2025. The regulator is also moving to block access to Bitget in the country. The action puts a local acquisition by the exchange into uncertain territory.
The complaint, in plain terms
The SEC's case centers on a simple claim: Bitget's operator did not hold a license to serve customers in Thailand during the period in question. That covers a stretch of roughly three years. Under Thai rules, crypto exchange services aimed at local users require authorization from the SEC, and operating without one can be pursued criminally rather than through a fine or a warning letter.
The complaint doesn't specify penalties or name individual executives. It also doesn't give a timeline for how the case will proceed. What it does make clear is that the regulator is treating the alleged unlicensed operation as a law enforcement matter, not a compliance cleanup.
Why blocking is the sharper tool
Filing a complaint and moving to block an exchange are two different levers. The first is legal and slow. The second is technical and fast — in practice, a block means Thai internet users could lose direct access to the platform, and the exchange would have to negotiate with local authorities or route around infrastructure it doesn't control.
Thailand has used access restrictions before as a way to enforce its licensing regime, and the threat of a block tends to push exchanges toward either local registration or an exit. For Bitget, the timing matters because the company has been building a presence in the market, not shrinking one.
The acquisition in limbo
Bitget's local acquisition in Thailand now faces uncertainty, according to the facts of the case. The SEC's complaint doesn't address the deal directly, and there's no indication the regulator has approved or rejected it. But a pending criminal complaint against the parent operator is an awkward backdrop for any acquisition that depends on local regulatory goodwill.
Deals in licensed markets usually need sign-off from the same regulator now pursuing the complaint. That doesn't kill the transaction on its own, but it complicates the path. The exchange hasn't said publicly how it plans to handle the filing or the block.
What's actually next
The immediate question is whether Thai authorities proceed with the block and on what timetable. The SEC has said it is moving to block Bitget, but the mechanics — which ISPs, which order, how quickly — aren't spelled out in the facts. Separately, the criminal complaint will have to work its way through Thailand's legal process, and that process doesn't move on a crypto timeline.
For Thai users, the practical concern is access. For Bitget, it's whether the local acquisition survives a regulator that has just decided to pursue its operator criminally. Neither question has an answer yet.
