Thailand to Block Bitget: What Finance Teams Must Do Before Dec. 5

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a criminal complaint against BG Limited, the operator of the Bitget exchange, and asked the government to block access from Dec. 5. For any finance team that holds balances or trade history on the venue, this is a dated operational deadline, and the right crypto accounting software and a clean set of records will decide how smoothly it goes.

What Thailand's SEC has actually done

The facts are narrow, and it helps to keep them separate from speculation. The SEC says it has filed a criminal complaint against BG Limited for allegedly operating a digital asset business without a licence. It also says it notified the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society to block access to Bitget starting Dec. 5. The restriction is meant to cover the exchange's website, other associated domains and its mobile app. The regulator advised users to take action regarding the assets they hold on the platform before that date.

The allegations

According to the SEC, Bitget offered crypto trading services to people in Thailand between 2022 and 2025, charged trading fees and promoted its services in Thai through its websites and social media channels. The regulator's position is that this activity breached Thailand's digital asset business licensing requirements. These are allegations in a complaint, not findings of a court.

The individual named alongside the operator

The complaint also names Kritsana Kritsananuwat, whom the SEC accuses of helping promote Bitget through Facebook and YouTube. The same regulator previously filed a criminal complaint against him in March 2025 over claims that he helped promote the unlicensed activities of another exchange, OKX. The reporting outlet tried to reach him through a phone number listed for advertising inquiries and could not. The point for finance teams is that Thai enforcement is reaching promoters as well as platform operators.

What happens next in the process

The SEC lodged the complaint with Thailand's Economic Crime Suppression Division for investigation. Prosecutors will then decide whether to bring charges, and courts will decide criminal liability. The access block is a separate administrative step, and it is the one with a fixed date. Thailand introduced rules in April 2025 to cover foreign platforms targeting Thai users, and changes to a separate cybercrime law made it easier for the ministry to block unlicensed platforms.

The licensing context: the GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics plan

The complaint arrived shortly after Bitget's Oct. 20 announcement that it planned to acquire GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics, a locally licensed crypto exchange and brokerage. The deal was to run through BTGT Management (Thailand), a company in which Bitget said it held an interest. At the time of the disclosure, the acquisition was still subject to regulatory approval and other conditions. Bitget said it intended to bring its trading platform to Thai users only after completing the transaction and obtaining approval for the change of control. Its CEO, Gracy Chen, described Thailand as an important part of Southeast Asia's digital asset landscape and the acquisition as a chance to build local operations.

Why the sequence matters

The source does not say how the SEC views the acquisition plan against its complaint, and we should not guess. What it does show is the regulator's stance: a licensed route is the expected path, and past activity without one is being pursued. For counterparties, the practical reading is that a venue's stated future licensing plans do not change the status of what has already happened, and do not by themselves guarantee continued access.

Who is affected, and how

The block targets access from Thailand, so the first-order effect is on users and entities that reach the exchange from inside the country. The second-order effect is wider. Any business with Thai staff, Thai clients, a Thai subsidiary or Thai-based treasury operators may find that the people who normally touch the account can no longer log in after Dec. 5. The SEC's advice to act on assets before the deadline is the signal to plan for that.

Accounting firms and auditors

If you service clients with exposure to the venue, the question is evidence. At period end, an auditor will want to see existence and ownership of assets held on an exchange, typically through a statement, API-derived balances, wallet proofs or confirmations. If the platform becomes unreachable from the client's location, obtaining that evidence after the fact gets harder. Capture balance and transaction exports now, while access works, and store them in the client file with a date stamp.

CFOs and treasury teams

For corporate treasuries, the issue is access risk layered on counterparty risk. An exchange that is the subject of a criminal complaint in a jurisdiction where you operate is a risk-register item whatever the eventual court outcome. Review whether the balance on the venue is within your approved counterparty limits, whether withdrawal addresses are whitelisted and tested, and whether the people authorised to approve withdrawals are in a position to do so before the date.

Funds and trading desks

Desks that route orders through the exchange by API should check whether their infrastructure or investors sit in Thailand. A block of the website and app does not obviously describe what happens to API endpoints, and the source does not address it, so do not assume either way. Ask the venue and your legal counsel, and record the answer.

Accounting and bookkeeping implications

None of this changes the underlying recognition rules for digital assets. It does change the timing and quality of your evidence, and it raises questions about classification and disclosure that a prudent preparer should document.

Reconcile before you move

The cleanest approach is to reconcile exchange balances to your ledger before any withdrawal, then reconcile again after. Withdrawals between your own accounts are transfers, not disposals, but only if the destination wallet is demonstrably yours and the cost basis follows the asset. Crypto bookkeeping software that tracks lots by wallet and venue makes this far easier, because a mass withdrawal in a short window produces many transfer legs that must each match on both sides. Unmatched legs are the usual cause of phantom gains and orphaned cost basis.

Fees, timing and valuation

Network fees paid on withdrawal, and any exchange withdrawal fees, need a consistent treatment under your policy. Timestamps matter too. If you convert assets to fiat or a stablecoin to exit the venue, each conversion is a disposal event with its own date, price and gain or loss. Digital asset accounting software should preserve the source price and timestamp for each leg so the numbers can be audited and explained later.

Assets you cannot move in time

If part of a balance is stuck, whether through a locked product, a pending withdrawal or a failed KYC step, assess whether your records still support the carrying amount. Consider whether the asset is still controlled, whether there is a recoverability question, and whether disclosure in the notes is warranted. The source does not say what the exchange will do about unwithdrawn balances after Dec. 5, so that remains an open point. Document your assessment and the facts you relied on. Our earlier piece on accounting steps after an exchange withdrawal halt sets out a similar evidence trail for restricted balances.

Tax and AML implications for firms

The source is a regulatory enforcement story, not a tax ruling, so it does not create any new reporting obligation in Thailand or elsewhere. The implications below are practical consequences of the facts, not statements of new law.

Tax record-keeping

Disposals made to exit the venue can crystallise gains or losses in whatever jurisdiction the taxpayer is resident. Keep a full trade history, deposit and withdrawal records, and fee data for the account, covering the whole period you used it. The SEC says the activity ran between 2022 and 2025, so a multi-year export is the right scope. If an account might become inaccessible, historic data held only on the exchange side is a single point of failure for your tax file.

AML and counterparty due diligence

Compliance teams should treat licensing status as a core input to counterparty risk scoring. A criminal complaint over unlicensed operation is a relevant adverse event for onboarding and ongoing monitoring files. Re-run screening on the venue, log the event, note the decision taken and who approved it. If your policy ties exposure limits to licensing status in the jurisdictions you serve, check whether a limit review is triggered. For wider context on how supervisors are framing jurisdictional risk, see our summary of the FATF October 2026 statements.

Offshore venues and a wider pattern

Thailand's approach, covering foreign platforms that target Thai users and using blocking powers, is one example of regulators acting against offshore venues. Other authorities have spoken about the need for oversight of offshore exchanges, as we covered in the CFTC chair's remarks on offshore exchange oversight. Treat this as a trend to monitor in your own jurisdiction map, not a prediction of specific action elsewhere.

A practical checklist before Dec. 5

The table below turns the facts into tasks. It contains only actions, no new facts about the case.

What good tooling should do here

This is the kind of event where crypto accounting software earns its place. Look for the ability to pull venue-level balances and history in one export, to link both sides of a transfer automatically, to hold cost basis through the move, and to produce an audit trail showing who approved what and when. If your current process relies on spreadsheets assembled at year end, a short, dated deadline like this one shows quickly where the gaps are.

What we do not know yet

It is worth being plain about the limits of the source. It does not say how the block will be technically enforced, what the exchange will do for users after Dec. 5, whether prosecutors will bring charges, or how the pending acquisition will be treated by the regulator. It also does not say whether Bitget disputes the allegations. Until those points are clarified, plan for the one confirmed date and keep your documentation of assumptions current. Check the SEC's own notices and any statement from the exchange before you finalise client advice.

FAQ

When will Thailand block access to Bitget?

The SEC says it notified the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society to block access from Dec. 5. The block is meant to cover the website, associated domains and the mobile app.

Has Bitget been found guilty of anything?

No. The SEC filed a criminal complaint with the Economic Crime Suppression Division. Prosecutors will decide whether to bring charges, and courts will decide criminal liability.

Does moving assets off the exchange trigger tax?

A transfer between wallets you control is generally a transfer, not a disposal, provided you can show the destination is yours. Converting to fiat or another asset to exit is a disposal. Rules depend on your jurisdiction, so confirm with your tax adviser.

What records should we keep?

Keep dated exports of balances, full trade history, deposits, withdrawals and fees, plus approval logs for any transfers. Store them outside the exchange so they remain available if access is lost.

How should AML teams treat this event?

Log it as an adverse event in the counterparty file, re-screen the venue, review exposure limits against your licensing criteria and record who approved the decision.

Source: Cointelegraph