Bitkub

Bitkub is Thailand's dominant cryptocurrency exchange and the developer of KUB Chain (formerly Bitkub Chain), an EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain designed to serve as the infrastructure layer for a regional decentralized economy across Southeast Asia. The two products share a common token—KUB Coin—and are operated by related entities under the Bitkub corporate umbrella, with the blockchain subsidiary known as Bitkub Blockchain Technology Co., Ltd.

The Exchange

Founded in February 2018 by Jirayut Srupsrisopa, Bitkub Exchange secured one of the first digital asset exchange licenses from Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission, establishing early regulatory credibility in a market where most regional peers operated in a gray zone. That head start helped the platform capture roughly 90% of Thailand's crypto market share at its peak, a dominance that has since moderated but remains substantial. Daily trading volumes consistently range between $50 million and $180 million.

The exchange is a spot-only platform. It lists over 163 cryptocurrencies, all quoted exclusively against the Thai baht (THB). This THB-native design makes Bitkub the primary on-ramp and off-ramp for Thai retail investors. There is no margin, futures, or leverage offering—the focus is on accessible, compliant spot trading for a domestic audience.

Bitkub has accumulated more than five million registered users. Mandatory four-tier KYC verification aligns with Thai AML requirements. Trading fees sit at a flat 0.25% for both maker and taker, and minimum deposit thresholds are low enough to accommodate first-time participants.

Security infrastructure includes cold storage wallets managed in partnership with BitGo and Coinbase Custody, two-factor authentication across all accounts, and an active bug bounty program. Independent auditors rate the exchange at A (82.81/100) on CertiK Skynet and AA (88%) on CER.live. Despite those ratings, the platform experienced a regulatory-mandated trading halt in 2021 amid a SEC investigation, and user sentiment on TrustPilot remains mixed. CoinGecko rates the exchange 8/10.

Bitkub has been pursuing an IPO on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. If completed, it would position the company as one of the first large crypto-native businesses in Asia to go public in its home market—a signal of the exchange's intention to operate as an institutionally credible, publicly accountable entity.

KUB Chain

The blockchain arm of Bitkub launched its network as Bitkub Chain and rebranded it to KUB Chain in March 2025. The rebranding was explicit about intent: separating the blockchain's identity from the exchange brand to project it as a global, decentralized public network rather than a proprietary corporate chain.

KUB Chain is EVM-compatible, allowing developers to deploy Solidity smart contracts using standard Ethereum tooling—Hardhat, Foundry, Remix, MetaMask—without learning a new development environment. The chain supports full nodes, archive nodes, and validator nodes. A cross-chain token bridge allows assets to move between KUB Chain and other networks.

Consensus uses a Proof of Stake mechanism. Validators stake KUB Coin to participate in block production. The original validator set was composed entirely of company-managed "Official Nodes," a centralized arrangement the team is actively dismantling. The target architecture replaces Official Nodes with a "Super Node" model open to qualified external partners and community participants. SIX Network joined as the first external validator in July 2025 as part of this transition.

The Lausanne Upgrade, deployed on July 8, 2025, reduced slashing penalties to lower the cost of validator participation and broaden the potential validator set. Separate roadmap items call for increasing transaction throughput from 25,000 transactions per block to a future target of 500,000, which would make KUB Chain competitive on raw throughput with high-performance networks.

KUB Coin

KUB Coin is the native utility token of KUB Chain, with a total fixed supply of 110 million tokens. Approximately 69 million were in circulation as of mid-2026. The token serves several functions across both the exchange and the blockchain:

• Gas: All on-chain transaction fees are paid in KUB, making it the necessary fuel for any activity on the network.
• Staking and delegation: Holders can delegate KUB to validators to earn staking rewards and contribute to network security without running node infrastructure themselves.
• Governance: A dedicated governance token, gKUB, launched alongside a Voting Platform in February 2025. KUB holders convert or lock tokens to obtain gKUB, which grants voting rights on protocol upgrades, new feature proposals, and ecosystem decisions.
• Exchange benefits: On Bitkub Exchange, KUB holders receive fee discounts and periodic benefits tied to the exchange's loyalty structure.

Governance and Decentralization

KUB Chain's governance ambitions go beyond on-chain voting. The project announced plans to establish a KUB Foundation—a Switzerland-registered non-profit—to hold and exercise oversight responsibilities for the protocol's long-term development. The foundation model, common among major L1s, is intended to insulate the network from any single company's interests and satisfy regulators in multiple jurisdictions.

As of mid-2026, the legal structuring for the KUB Foundation remains in progress, with studies ongoing in Thailand and internationally. The transition from company-controlled governance to foundation governance represents a meaningful test of whether the project can achieve genuine decentralization or remain a corporate blockchain with decentralization framing.

Ecosystem and Partnerships

KUB Chain's ecosystem spans DeFi applications, NFT projects, and real-world asset initiatives that have gained traction in the Thai market. In August 2025, ELYSIA—a real-world asset tokenization project—partnered with Bitkub to explore KRW stablecoin adoption in Southeast Asia, launching a proof-of-concept in Thailand. The partnership reflects the chain's interest in bridging regulated financial assets with on-chain infrastructure.

The developer toolkit includes an SDK suite, a developer center with documentation and grants, and bridge infrastructure to bring assets from Ethereum and other EVM chains onto KUB Chain without requiring new wallet setups.

Ecosystem Position

Bitkub's dual role—as a regulated exchange serving a large retail base and as a blockchain protocol company—gives it an integrated position in the Thai and broader Southeast Asian crypto market. The exchange supplies immediate fiat liquidity access and user distribution for KUB Chain's ecosystem, while the blockchain enables developers and enterprises to build decentralized applications targeting a region of 680 million people underserved by legacy financial infrastructure.

KUB Chain is an independent EVM-compatible Layer 1, not part of the Solana ecosystem. However, Bitkub Exchange lists assets native to Solana and other networks, positioning it as a gateway for Thai investors accessing multi-chain crypto markets. As the chain executes on its decentralization roadmap—Super Nodes, the KUB Foundation, throughput upgrades, and expanded RWA applications—Bitkub represents one of Southeast Asia's most developed end-to-end crypto infrastructure efforts, combining a regulated exchange front-end with an increasingly open blockchain back-end.