Bitget Plans Thailand Entry Through Acquisition of GMO’s Licensed Crypto Exchange

Bitget’s planned entry into Thailand hinges on acquiring a locally licensed exchange and securing approval for the change in control. The company said Oct. 20 that it intends to buy GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics (Thailand), a Bangkok exchange and brokerage owned by Japan’s GMO Internet, and offer Bitget’s trading platform to Thai users after the transaction closes. That structure gives Bitget a route into the market through an existing local business, while leaving the launch dependent on regulators accepting the new ownership.

The buyer named in GMO Internet’s Sept. 24 disclosure was BTGT Management (Thailand) Ltd., a company formed two days earlier to acquire the business. The filing put BTGT’s share capital at 2 million Thai baht. Bitget later said it is behind the purchase through an interest in BTGT, but hasn’t disclosed the size of that stake. GMO Internet’s board approved the sale to BTGT without identifying Bitget. The sequence matters: the public filing established the acquiring company, while Bitget’s later statement connected it to the transaction without spelling out its precise ownership position.

That leaves a gap in the public picture. Bitget has said it is involved, but the disclosed information doesn’t show how much influence it will hold through BTGT or how the parties have arranged the acquisition. The share transfer and regulatory review will determine whether the plan proceeds as described.

Closing depends on Thai approval

The share transfer is expected to take effect on Oct. 31, according to GMO’s filing, but that date is conditional. Bitget said regulatory approval and other conditions must be met before the acquisition closes. It plans to launch its platform for Thai users only after the deal is completed and the change of control is approved, and says it will follow Thai rules. No approval had been announced at publication. In other words, the date in the filing is a target, not confirmation that the exchange has changed hands.

GMO’s direct holding accounts for 49% of the exchange, while its Thai holding company owns 50.94%. Together, all 7,349,446 shares are set to transfer. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed “at the request of the buyer.” GMO expects the transaction’s effect on its 2026 results to be “minimal.” For readers, the share figures clarify the scope of the sale, but the absent price makes it harder to assess what Bitget believes the licensed operation is worth.

“Building a presence in a market requires local expertise, an understanding of the regulatory environment and a long-term commitment to the market,” Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said. She described Thailand as “an important part of Southeast Asia’s digital asset landscape.” The statement sets out the company’s rationale, but it doesn’t explain how Bitget will integrate its platform with the acquired exchange or what customers should expect to change after closing.

A sale after sustained losses

GMO Internet announced in March that it would leave Thailand’s digital asset business. It had acquired the Thai units from parent GMO Internet Group in March 2025, then began reviewing its businesses the following month as the group reshaped its operations. The company’s exit therefore follows a relatively short period under the parent’s ownership, although the disclosures cited here don’t explain the causes of the review or why the business was put up for sale.

The exchange reported a net loss of about 87.6 million baht in 2025, against net sales of roughly 11 million baht. It also recorded losses in 2023 and 2024, the filing says. Those results give context to GMO’s decision to exit and to Bitget’s choice to pursue a licensed local operation through an acquisition. They also suggest that a local license alone won’t guarantee a profitable business: Bitget would still need to build activity and manage the costs of operating the exchange.

The available figures don’t show whether the losses reflect weak trading demand, operating expenses, or other factors. That distinction matters because the acquisition transfers an operating business, not a ready-made explanation for its past performance. Bitget hasn’t disclosed a purchase price or a detailed plan for the Thai operation, so its view of the business’s prospects remains difficult to judge.

Bitget’s expansion follows a wallet attack

The deal comes after about $388 million was taken from Bitget’s hot and warm wallets in a Sept. 24 attack. Chen said the attacker exploited a flaw in a third-party security product. Bitget began restoring withdrawals in stages on Sept. 28, said customer balances were unaffected, and stated that its Protection Fund would cover the losses. The company’s response is part of the context for its expansion, though the information provided doesn’t establish any connection between the attack and the Thailand acquisition.

Security assurances and service restoration address immediate concerns, but they don’t remove the questions raised by an attack involving a third-party product. For customers and partners, the relevant test is how the exchange handles operational risk over time and how clearly it explains incidents. Bitget has stated that customer balances weren’t affected; the article provides no independent account of the attack or additional detail about the product flaw.

This is more significant than it looks: Bitget is seeking to add a regulated local operation while its own platform is still dealing with the reputational effects of a major wallet incident. Those developments are separate, but they put pressure on the company to show that market expansion comes with clear ownership, credible compliance work and careful security practices. If you’re working in this space, the distinction between acquiring a license-bearing business and earning users’ trust is a practical one. The first may open a door; the second takes sustained execution.

What comes next for the Thailand plan

For now, the Thailand plan remains contingent on approval and completion of the share transfer. Its next milestone is whether BTGT’s major shareholders satisfy the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules for major shareholders, as specified in GMO’s filing. That review will help determine whether the transaction can proceed, but it won’t by itself show whether Bitget can turn the business around.

Here's the thing: a change of ownership can provide a local foothold, but it doesn’t resolve the commercial challenge visible in the exchange’s reported losses. Bitget will need to explain what it intends to bring to the operation and how the platform will serve Thai users once it receives approval. The company has described the market as important; the disclosures so far offer little detail on the operating plan.

And yet, the structure leaves a clear, near-term measure of progress: whether the share transfer closes and the change in control is approved. After that, the more telling evidence will be how the acquired exchange operates under its new ownership. No launch has been announced, and the current filing doesn’t settle the questions about price, Bitget’s stake or the business’s path to better results. A conditional transaction, still.

Get Unchained’s crypto news in your inbox with the free Unchained Daily newsletter.

Related Listen: Just Days After the Hack, Scammers Were Still Targeting Bitget’s CEO