Bitget Plans to Acquire Thailand’s Licensed Z.com EX Through BTGT
By Crypto Wire
October 20, 2026
Bitget said on Tuesday, October 20, 2026 that it plans to acquire GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics (Thailand) Co., Ltd. — the Bangkok operator behind licensed exchange and brokerage Z.com EX — through its interest in newly formed buyer vehicle BTGT Management (Thailand) Ltd. Japan’s GMO Internet, consolidated subsidiary GMO-Z.com Holdings (Thailand), and other shareholders are set to transfer their entire stake at completion. Price and Bitget’s exact ownership share inside BTGT were not disclosed. The deal is not closed: Bitget and GMO both frame completion as subject to Thai regulatory approval and other conditions, with Bitget saying it will introduce its trading platform to Thai users only after change-of-control clearance.
GMO Internet’s September 24 board disclosure named BTGT as the buyer without naming Bitget, described BTGT as newly established September 22 with share capital of 2 million Thai baht, and targeted October 31 as the expected effective date of the share transfer. All 7,349,446 shares are scheduled to change hands — GMO Internet’s direct 49% plus its Thai holding company’s 50.94% — with the purchase price withheld at the buyer’s request. Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission already lists GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics among licensed digital-asset exchange operators; Z.com EX launched in February 2021. As of Bitget’s October 20 reveal, no Thai SEC major-shareholder / change-of-control approval had been announced.
For marketplace desks, this is a licensed-venue path into a market Bitget’s own terms still treat as restricted. Bitget’s terms of use updated October 16 still list Thailand among prohibited jurisdictions alongside Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. A closed, approved transfer to a locally licensed exchange is the clean route to serving Thai users under domestic rules — not a quiet ToS flip overnight. CEO Gracy Chen called Thailand “an important part of Southeast Asia’s digital asset landscape” and framed the purchase as a way to establish local operations with regulatory understanding, per Bitget’s Academy write-up and the announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
The timing sits weeks after Bitget’s September 24 hot- and warm-wallet incident that the firm put near $388 million, which it blamed on a flaw in a third-party security product and fraudulent withdrawal commands. Bitget said customer balances were covered and that phased withdrawals finished restoring on October 2. This Thailand chapter is a Southeast Asia venue expansion, not a new forensic beat on that exploit trail — but it lands while Bitget is still rebuilding operational optics after the drain. GMO’s Thai unit has also been a loss-making book: the September filing cited about 87.6 million baht net loss on about 11 million baht net sales in 2025, after GMO said in March it would exit the Thai digital-asset business.
What collectors and Thai traders should watch is the regulatory gate, not marketing copy. Until Thai SEC change-of-control approval posts and the share transfer actually settles, Bitget’s global app remains a separate product from Z.com EX’s licensed Thai book. Listing stacks, KYC corridors, and fee schedules do not automatically merge on announcement day. Bitget’s Academy note is explicit that the locally operated exchange would draw on GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics’ Thai market experience while bringing Bitget’s trading stack under applicable Thai rules — language that only becomes operational after the approvals clear.
Venue watch: Track whether Thai SEC posts major-shareholder / change-of-control approval before GMO’s targeted October 31 share-transfer date, whether Bitget discloses its BTGT stake size, and whether Z.com EX’s licensed Thai order book or fee rails change once Bitget says its platform is live for local users.
Bottom line: Bitget revealed on October 20, 2026 that it is behind BTGT’s planned purchase of Thailand’s licensed Z.com EX operator — Thai SEC change-of-control approval and GMO’s targeted October 31 transfer still gate the venue go-live.
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