Thai SCBX refuses to take over Bitkub for $500 million

Financial conglomerate SCBX Group pulls out of dealon the $500 million acquisition of cryptocurrency exchange Bitkub. The owner of Thailand's oldest bank, Siam Commercial Bank, cited regulatory reasons, reports Kaohoon.

«Bitkub is currently inthe process of resolving various issues in accordance with the recommendations and orders of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand, with an unclear time frame for eliminating the shortcomings,” SCBX said in a statement.

On the group’s acquisition of 51% of the shares of the Bitcoin exchange forTHB 17.85 billion (~$536 million at the time) reported in November 2021. The parties planned to close the deal in the first quarter of this year, the buyer was SCB Securities (SCBS). 

The company said that in recent months it has conducted a comprehensive review of Bitkub, recognized the potential of the platform and identified possible areas for development of joint business. 

During the inspection, SCBS found no significant issues that could not be corrected. However, taking into account the claims of the Commission against the exchange, the parties came to an agreement to terminate the transaction.

In the background of the message, the Bitkub Coin token (KUB)fell from levels above $2 to $1.62 - by more than 20%. After recovery, the coin is trading around $1.76 (CoinGekco). The capitalization of the asset is about $159 million, and it ranks 199th in the overall ranking according to the indicator. 

Data: CoinGekco.

Recall that in July, a division of the Huobi crypto exchange stopped working in Thailand. The platform has not been able to bring its activities in line with the requirements of the regulator.

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