The filing of charges against Bitkub Online Co., Ltd., Mr. Sakonkorn Srakawi, and Mr. Thaweesap Rawan — two former directors of the company — for concealing information about the theft of digital assets worth more than 1.7 billion baht, has not ensnared "Top," or "Jirayus Sapsrisopa," the key co-founder of the company, in the case.
Yet the credibility and image of both Top and "Bitkub Online" have been dealt a severe blow — one that will not be easy to recover from.
What demands close attention is KUB COIN, the digital currency that Top conjured into existence — 110 million coins — in May 2021, to be used as gas fees and to connect the various ecosystems on the Bitkub Chain, with no underlying asset serving as collateral. The question now is: how will it survive?
"Top" built a name for himself that reverberated throughout Thai society, trading on his image as a cryptocurrency guru and as a key co-founder of Bitkub Online Co., Ltd., established to operate digital asset businesses.
Although Bitkub Online Co., Ltd. had previously been fined and penalised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on multiple occasions for various violations, society at large did not hold Top's conduct against him. He went on to become a digital currency knowledge guru so sought after as a speaker that organisations could barely find a slot in his schedule.
Over the past five to six years, Top amassed wealth from the cryptocurrency craze to the point of becoming a young billionaire, living a lavish lifestyle, and dreaming of taking Bitkub Online Co., Ltd. to Hong Kong's stock market to raise approximately 6.5 billion baht.
But that dream has now been extinguished. And no stock exchange anywhere in the world is likely to open its doors to "Bitkub Online" for a fundraising listing, not while charges of concealment and false disclosure are still pending before the SEC.
Trust is a critical factor for investors, and "Bitkub Online" has already gone bankrupt in that regard — a collapse that will have a cascading effect on Top's own credibility as well.
For there is a question that must be asked: could Top truly have been unaware of the theft of Bitkub customers' assets?
And beyond concealing the theft of assets worth 1.7 billion baht — has Bitkub also concealed other information?
The peak days of Bitkub and Top have most likely passed. The downward slide is now creeping toward Thailand's foremost digital currency guru.
What does the future hold for KUB COIN — the coin that Top willed into being?
Top opened KUB COIN for purchase in May 2021 at 30 baht per coin, before it began trading on the digital currency market around mid-December 2021, closing its first trading day at 279.07 baht.
Speculation in KUB COIN was at its most feverish on 28 December 2021, when during the trading session the price of KUB COIN — money from thin air, backed by no asset whatsoever — was driven up to a peak of 580.51 baht. Speculators poured in to trade, sending the trading volume surging to 4,609.87 million baht.
Anyone who played the KUB COIN game — at whatever price they bought in — and has yet to sell, has been wiped out across the board, as the price of KUB COIN has done nothing but fall.
It is somewhat surprising that KUB COIN is still trading above 20 baht today. And since the SEC filed charges against Bitkub on 23 July, the price has barely moved downward at all — whereas if this were a stock, bad news of this magnitude might have sent it crashing to the floor for days on end.
Five years since KUB COIN was conjured into existence, "Top Jirayus" has grown rich beyond measure — while the speculators who poured in to play the KUB coin have been wiped out and left badly wounded, row upon row.
KUB COIN may not be dead yet, but those who are still holding it are in a state of living death — without hope — over the money that "Top Jirayus" built from thin air.
KUB COIN began from zero. Its end may well return to zero.
