Zipmex facing legal battle with Thailand SEC over non-compliance

Thailand’s SEC has accused Zipmex and its CEO Eklarp Yimwilai of non-compliance with a request to provide details of transactions and wallets used to hold customers’ assets prior to the withdrawal freeze.

Zipmex had paused all withdrawal requests from its Z wallet on July 20. The SEC issued a letter on July 21, asking for clarifications on how assets held in the exchange were managed.

The SEC  in its latest update said that Zipmex failed to comply fully with its demand. Zipmex and Eklarp Yimwilai are said to have delayed in submitting the information, and eventually sent incomplete details.

According to the SEC, the excuse given by the company was unreasonable. Consequently, Thailand’s police force has been invited to handle the case.

Such actions by Zipmex and Mr. Eklarp are considered to be non-compliance with the competent official’s orders. Which is an offense and has a penalty under Section 75 of the Digital Assets Act, the SEC has accused Zipmex and Mr. Eklarp to the ACT, to consider further legal action.

Zipmex treading with caution 

Zipmex in a Sept. 7 update said that it was carefully compiling the relevant documents as it affected its parent company “Zipmex Pte. Ltd.” which is not under the regulatory jurisdiction of Thailand’s SEC.

Zipmex added:

“any disclosure of Zipmex Pte. Ltd.’s information must be carried out with the utmost care and consideration to ensure that regulations are fully complied with and standards such as data privacy are duly observed.”

State of withdrawals on Zipmex

Zipmex gradually resumed withdrawals from its Trade wallet on July 22 and allowed withdrawals from the Z wallet on Aug. 2.

Users were able to transfer their Solana (SOL), Ripple (XRP) and Cardano (ADA) from the Z- wallet to Trade wallets before completing the withdrawal process.

Withdrawals for Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) was also enabled though with limitations due to limited liquidity. Users who held less that 0.08 ETH and 0.0045 BTC could easily withdraw by transferring from the Z wallets to the Trade wallets. 

Zipmex in a blog update said that effective Sept. 7 2022, users wallet addresses for BTC, BCH and XRP would be changed.

Zipmex added:

“This change in wallet addresses is due to the change of our wallet in order to accommodate and support more digital assets in the future.”