Troubled Zipmex Thailand in buyout talks, suing 2 crypto exchanges
Troubled crypto trader Zipmex Thailand said on Sunday it was considering a possible buyout offer after talks with investors.
The Thai exchange also announced it would file lawsuits against two troubled crypto lenders in a bid to retrieve digital assets for its customers.
Zipmex Thailand CEO Akalarp Yimwilai said it would take legal against Babel Finance and Celsius Network.
The move came after Zipmex Thailand suspended trading for two hours on Wednesday as customers were unable to withdraw coins from its ZipUp+ service, which is linked to Babel Finance and Celsius. The latter crypto lender has now reportedly filed for bankruptcy in the US.
Akalarp said his firm had disabled ZipUp+, a product of Zipmex Global, to protect the stability of the Zipmex Thailand system. He added that Zipmex Thailand would not take legal action against Zipmex Global, as mistakenly reported in some media outlets, but instead cooperate with the company to sue Babel and Celsius.
Akalarp said the problem began on June 17 when Singapore-based Babel suspended withdrawal of coins.
Zipmex Global responded by consulting lawyers in Singapore and holding talks with Babel to retrieve assets.
However, the CEO said talks failed on Wednesday so he suspended ZipUp+ trading and informed the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission immediately.
He said Zipmex Thailand has since launched legal action against Babel Finance and is consulting lawyers so that customers who had invested via ZipUp+ could join a class action lawsuit against the Singapore firm.
He said Zipmex Thailand would also join with Zipmex Global to sue bankrupt Celsius for the US$5 million it owes to Zipmex customers.
Akalarp said Zipmex Thailand resumed trading in 28 digital coins on Wednesday night, though some coins remain disabled.
