Bitget has one month left in Thailand. On December 5, the country's regulator will cut off the exchange's website, its other domains and its mobile app, and Thai users have been told to sort out their funds before that day.
Key points:
- Thailand's SEC filed a criminal complaint against Bitget's operator, BG Limited, for running a crypto exchange without a licence from 2022 to 2025.
- Access to Bitget's website, other domains and app will be blocked from December 5, and users have been told to act on their funds before then.
- Bitget had announced a plan on October 20 to buy a licensed Thai exchange, but that deal still has no approval from the regulator.
Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday, November 5, that it had filed the complaint with the country's Economic Crime Suppression Division and asked the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society to block Bitget. The regulator says BG Limited offered crypto trading services between 2022 and 2025, charged trading fees and promoted the service in Thai on its websites and social media, all without the digital asset business licence Thai law demands. The complaint names the promoter Kritsana Kritsananuwat too, accusing him of pushing Bitget through the Facebook page "Srisiam" and the YouTube channel "SRISIAM".
My own read is that the court case is the slow part of this story. The block is the fast part, and it lands on December 5 whether or not anyone is ever charged. A trader who waits for a verdict will find the app gone first.
Read also: Bitget Bets Big on Thailand With 99.94% Exchange Deal — Oct 31 Next?
Why did Thailand move now?
Thailand has required a licence for digital asset businesses since 2018, and it tightened the rules in April 2025 to cover foreign platforms that target Thai users. A separate 2025 decree on technology-related crime gave the digital ministry the power to cut off unlicensed platforms. The complaint points to Section 3 of the 2018 emergency decree, which defines running a digital asset exchange, and Section 26, which bans doing it without a licence. Breaking that rule is an offence under Section 66. The SEC says Bitget's Thai-language ads and fee-charging trades put it squarely inside those rules. The same promoter was already in trouble once before. In March 2025, the SEC filed a complaint against him over claims he promoted OKX's unlicensed exchange work.
The licensed deal that now hangs in the balance
On October 20, Bitget announced plans to buy GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics, a locally licensed crypto exchange and brokerage, through BTGT Management (Thailand), a firm in which Bitget said it held an interest. The idea was to bring its trading platform to Thai users once the deal closed and the change of control won approval. Bitget chief executive Gracy Chen said at the time that Thailand mattered a great deal to the firm's plans in Southeast Asia. The share transfer for the deal was later moved to November 30, five days before the block starts. The SEC's November 5 notice says nothing about the deal, and no approval has been announced. Bitget did not answer Cointelegraph's request for comment.
Move your funds before December 5
Start with the one fact that cannot wait. The SEC has told Bitget users to act on the assets they hold on the platform before the access block takes effect. Check what you hold on Bitget now, and move it or sell it on your own terms while the site and app still work. Waiting until December 4 is the worst version of this plan, because a last-day rush is when withdrawals slow down and mistakes happen.
Here is the part traders should not mix up. A criminal complaint is not a verdict. The Economic Crime Suppression Division will look into the claims first, prosecutors will then decide whether to bring charges, and the courts will settle who is liable. The SEC's account of what Bitget did is an allegation, not a proven fact, and Bitget has not yet answered it in public. The access block runs on a different track from the court case, under the 2025 decree, so the December 5 date stands on its own. Watch the deal, not the docket. If the GMO-Z.com purchase wins approval, Bitget has a licensed way back in. If it does not, the block is the end of Bitget in Thailand.
Write down three dates before you do anything else. November 30, when the share transfer for Bitget's licensed-exchange deal is due to move. December 5, when access to Bitget goes dark in Thailand. And today, the day you move your own funds off the platform. Then watch two things: the SEC's decision on the GMO-Z.com deal, and whether Bitget answers the complaint at all. Until one of those changes, treat December 5 as final.
Read also: SEC Staff Call Canton Coin a Digital Commodity in First Token Relief
— BitByLine News Desk
This post is news only, not financial advice. BitByLine never tells anyone to buy or sell crypto. That call is always yours, and the risk is yours too. Always do your own research first. Read our full Disclaimer.
Sources: Cointelegraph, crypto.news, AltcoinBuzz.
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