Bitget plans Thailand crypto exchange acquisition weeks after $388M wallet hack

Bitget says it plans to acquire Thailand’s GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics through BTGT Management (Thailand), a move that would give it a locally licensed route into the Thai market just weeks after a major breach hit its hot and warm wallet infrastructure. For PSPs and crypto payment teams, the point is simple: licensing, local access, and incident response are all moving pieces here, and Bitget is trying to solve them at the same time.

1. Bitget announced plans to acquire GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics, which operates Z.com EX in Thailand. The proposed transaction involves BTGT Management (Thailand), a company in which Bitget says it holds an interest, according to the announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
2. The acquisition would allow Bitget to introduce its trading platform to Thai users. Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said: “Thailand is an important part of Southeast Asia’s digital asset landscape, and this acquisition gives us a great opportunity to establish local operations in a thriving country.”
3. GMO Internet disclosed the proposed sale to BTGT Management in a Sept. 24 filing, with completion targeted for Oct. 31. Bitget’s announcement identifies its involvement in the transaction, but the company declined to comment on how much interest it holds in BTGT Management or on the financial and ownership terms of the deal.
4. Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission lists GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics among its licensed digital asset exchange operators. That matters because the acquisition could give Bitget a route to serving Thailand through a locally licensed operator, even though Bitget’s terms of use, updated Oct. 16, list Thailand among its prohibited jurisdictions.
5. The proposed deal comes weeks after Bitget said a Sept. 24 attack on its hot and warm wallet infrastructure affected approximately $388 million. According to Bitget, attackers exploited a vulnerability in a third-party security product and issued fraudulent withdrawal commands. The company said customer account balances were unaffected and that it completed the phased restoration of withdrawals on Oct. 2.

Bitget also announced on Oct. 17 that it plans to discontinue services for certain users, calling it a “one-off exercise.” For high-risk operators, the sequence is worth watching: a wallet incident, a jurisdictional cleanup, and now a push for local market access through an already licensed entity.