Thai securities regulator orders Bitkub to do better after outages

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The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered cryptocurrency exchange Bitkub to improve its technical infrastructure after an unacceptable level of trading outages, according to reports.

The regulator, tasked with overseeing digital currency exchanges operating in Thailand, said the exchange must do more to prevent outages, after users were blocked from trading during significant price spikes earlier this month.

According to a report in the Bangkok Post, the regulator has given the exchange five days to remedy the issues, after three separate incidents in January. One of the outages saw a period of 16 hours of no trading, prompting concern amongst users that they could lose their digital currency.

There are also increasing concerns that Bitkub may not be able to handle current trading volumes let alone hold capacity for future surges, leading some to fear the exchange could ultimately be forced to close.

The news will be welcomed by users of Bitkub after the technical problems of recent weeks. Yet the development underlines the risks and challenges facing digital currency speculators and investors on digital currency exchanges.

Bitkub is considered to be the largest digital currency exchange in Thailand, accounting for some 90% share of the local market. Like other exchanges worldwide, the platform experienced a surge in trading activity in early January, as BTC prices inflated to as high as $41,000.

Similar volumes of trading activity have previously caused problems at rival exchanges, including Coinbase, which has pledged to improve its technical infrastructure to cope with high levels of demand.

With the clock ticking for Bitkub, it is hoped the exchange can put in place the necessary technical controls to prevent similar outages from occurring in the future. In the meantime, investors watch on in the hope of a resumption to normal service in short order.

See also: CoinGeek Live panel, Digital Currency & Global Compliance: Tools & Tips for Exchanges, Wallets & Other Service Providers