2024

Zipmex

Utopia

The Securities and Exchange Commission Board of Thailand (SEC) has forwarded a recommendation to the Finance Ministry to revoke crypto exchange Zipmex’s digital asset business license, it announced on Feb. 23. This is the latest in a series of setbacks in Thailand for the exchange.
At a meeting on Feb. 21, the SEC also resolved that Zipmex’s business suspension, imposed on Feb. 1, would continue and clients could request the return of their assets on the exchange through March 11. After that date, Zipmex will be required to place unclaimed assets in a “trusted and secured system” and report it to the SEC. The agency <a href="https://www.sec.or.th/EN/Pages/News_Detail.aspx?SECID=10590&amp;NewsNo=10590&amp;NewsYear=10590&amp;Lang=10590" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">noted</a>:
<blockquote>
 “Even after the effective revocation of its license, Zipmex retains its status as a limited company with corresponding rights, responsibilities and liabilities, including the possibility of being subject to legal action.”
</blockquote>
This move comes after Zipmex failed to meet a deadline to increase its net capital and improve its personnel and management structure, which the SEC had found to be “inappropriate and insufficient.” On Ge Zipmex <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/thai-sec-zipmex-suspend-services" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">was given 15 days to comply</a> with the SEC on Feb. 1. It was ordered to suspend business operations at that time. The SEC <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/thai-sec-charges-former-zipmex-ceo-fraud" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said it was charging former Zipmex CEO</a> Akalarp Yimwilai with corruption on Feb. 8.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/thai-digital-money-giveaway-question-after-government-report" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Thai digital money giveaway in question after report to government</a>
The exchange’s troubles began in 2022. On July 20 of that year, it <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/breaking-zipmex-suspends-withdrawals-as-ceo-denies-financial-trouble-rumors" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">suspended withdrawals for weeks due</a> to concerns over its exposure to crypto lenders Babel and Celsius, which were facing bankruptcy. Zipmex <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/zipmex-resumes-withdrawals-for-trade-wallets" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">restored access to Trade Wallets</a> after three days, but <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/zipmex-says-it-may-resume-100-of-z-wallet-withdrawals-subject-to-conditions" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">its Z Wallets remained blocked</a> into the following year.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
 คณะกรรมการ ก.ล.ต. มีมติเสนอแนะต่อรัฐมนตรีว่าการกระทรวงการคลังพิจารณาเพิกถอนใบอนุญาต บริษัท ซิปเม็กซ์ จำกัด (Zipmex) จากการเป็นผู้ประกอบธุรกิจสินทรัพย์ดิจิทัล<a href="https://t.co/m9d8Atshew" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://t.co/m9d8Atshew</a> <a href="https://t.co/9JVykCQHL5" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">pic.twitter.com/9JVykCQHL5</a>— สำนักข่าวAC NEWS (@AcNewsMagOnline) <a href="https://twitter.com/AcNewsMagOnline/status/1761022061240320033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">February 23, 2024</a>
</blockquote>
Coinbase made an unsuccessful attempt to acquire Zipmex in 2022. Coinbase ended up making a “strategic investment” of unspecified size, but was not listed among the exchange’s top three investors in a report in August.
Zipmex <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/after-weeks-of-rumors-thai-crypto-exchange-zipmex-files-for-bankruptcy-in-singapore" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">filed for debt relief in Singapore</a> on July 27, 2022. In September 2022, the SEC <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/thai-sec-file-police-report-on-zipmex-alleging-incomplete-info-for-compliance-procedures" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">recommended police action against Zipmex</a> for failing to provide information under the country’s Digital Assets Act. It <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-exchange-zipmex-probed-by-thai-sec-amid-buyout" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">faced more scrutiny from the SEC</a> the following January as it prepared for acquisition by Thai investors V Ventures. That deal also <a href="https://www.blockhead.co/2023/04/24/crypto-exchange-zipmex-loses-us-100-million-rescue-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">fell</a> through.
The SEC <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/thai-sec-grants-license-to-asia-pacific-crypto-exchange" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">granted Zipmex a license</a> in January 2020. The exchange operates in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/thailands-crypto-utopia-sex-drugs-libertarian-smart-village/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Thailand’s Crypto Utopia — ‘90% of a cult, without all the weird stuff’</a>

Thai SEC proposes to revoke license of troubled exchange Zipmex

Cointelegraph

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