Thai SEC Tells Bitkub Crypto Exchange to Improve Platform After Trading Outages

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered the popular cryptocurrency exchange Bitkub to temporarily shut down and fix issues causing severe outages on Tuesday.

• According to a report from Bangkok Post on Wednesday, the financial regulator is giving the Bitkub exchange five days to fix the problems that caused three outages in January amid increased trading activity.
• During one outage, the platform was reportedly down for 16 hours before trading resumed.
• The issues have prompted concerns among users that they may lose their holdings if Bitkub is forced to close or cannot handle large trading volumes, said an anonymous industry insider cited in the report.
• Bitkub claims be the biggest crypto exchange in Thailand with a 90% share of the market, per the report.
• Bitcoin prices soared to a record high of around $41,000 in early January, causing surging trading activity on exchanges everywhere.
• The U.S.-based Coinbase exchange has become notorious for going down when prices make major moves, and said last week it will rebuild its platform to better handle the heavy loads.

Read more: Thai Stock Exchange Launching Digital Asset Trading in H2, Cryptos Excluded