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Magyar20 Oct 2026
Bitget plans to enter Thailand by acquiring GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics, a locally licensed exchange operator, through BTGT Management. The deal, targeted to close on 31 October, comes less than a month after a Sept. 24 breach that affected about $388 million in Bitget hot and warm wallets. Thailand is currently on Bitget's list of prohibited jurisdictions, so a local licence would be its legal route in.
Bitget wants a licensed foothold in Thailand. The exchange says it is involved in the purchase of GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics, the operator behind Z.com EX, via a Thai company called BTGT Management in which Bitget holds an undisclosed interest. GMO Internet first disclosed the sale in a 24 September filing and is aiming to complete it on 31 October.
What is being bought
GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics runs Z.com EX, a spot exchange that launched in February 2021 and appears on the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission list of licensed digital asset exchange operators. Buying an existing licence holder is usually faster than applying from scratch, which is why global exchanges increasingly enter regulated markets this way. Bitget has not shared the price, its stake in BTGT Management or the ownership structure after closing.
Why the timing matters
The announcement lands only weeks after the 24 September incident in which attackers abused a flaw in a third-party security product to push fraudulent withdrawals from Bitget’s hot and warm wallets. Bitget put the affected amount at roughly $388 million, said customer balances were not touched and completed a phased restart of withdrawals on 2 October. On 17 October the exchange also said it would stop serving some users in what it called a one-off exercise, and its terms updated on 16 October list Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Thailand as prohibited jurisdictions.
In other words, Bitget is tightening who it serves globally while trying to buy its way into a market where it is not allowed today. That pattern fits a wider shift: large offshore exchanges are trading reach for licences, from MiCA in the EU to local regimes in Asia and the Middle East.
What it means for traders
- Thai users: nothing changes yet. Until the deal closes and a Bitget-branded service is approved by the Thai SEC, Thai residents should not expect access to Bitget’s global platform. A local product would likely offer a narrower list of assets and no high-leverage derivatives.
- Global Bitget users: the hack and the user offboarding are the more relevant signals. Check that your country is still supported, keep only trading balances on any exchange and review proof of reserves reports after a security incident.
- Everyone comparing exchanges: licensing in your own country is now one of the clearest dividing lines between platforms. Our exchange comparison lets you filter by “Licensed in my region”, and our methodology explains how regulation and security feed into each score.
What to watch next
Key dates are the planned 31 October closing and any Thai SEC approval for a Bitget-linked service. Also watch for a fuller post-mortem of the September breach and for Bitget’s next proof of reserves update. We will update the regulatory table on our Bitget review once a Thai licence is confirmed in the official register.
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News is for information only and is not financial advice. More crypto news
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