Zipmex

Zipmex was a Southeast Asia-focused crypto exchange founded in 2018 by Marcus Lim and Akalarp Yimwilai.¹³¹⁰ It suspended withdrawals in July 2022 after disclosing $53 million in exposure to Babel Finance and Celsius.¹³⁴⁶ The company entered restructuring and its Thai licenses were revoked in 2024, with its former CEO sentenced to prison in 2025.¹¹⁶

Timeline

Money raised

Zipmex raised a $1.9 million seed round in January 2019.¹ Zipmex raised $3 million in a pre-Series A round in September 2019, led by Infinity Blockchain Holdings, at a valuation of $18 million.¹¹⁰ Zipmex raised a $6 million Series A in January 2021 led by Jump Capital.¹ Zipmex closed a $41 million Series B in August 2021 led by B Capital and TNB Aura, with participation from Krungsri Finnovate, Plan B Media, and Master Ad.¹¹² Zipmex added $11 million more to its Series B in September 2021.¹¹⁴ Total funding raised by Zipmex was approximately $52 million.¹³¹⁴ Zipmex had $53 million of customer funds stuck with Babel Finance and Celsius.¹³⁴⁶ V Ventures agreed to buy about 90% of Zipmex for $100 million, but the deal fell through after missed payments.¹⁶ Under a proposed restructuring plan, creditors were projected to recover only about 5.1% of what they were owed.¹

Investors named in the sources: Jump Capital¹⁶¹², Krungsri Finnovate¹¹², B Capital¹¹², TNB Aura¹¹², V Ventures¹, Plan B Media¹¹², Master Ad (MACO)¹¹², Infinity Blockchain Holdings¹⁰, AEC Securities Public Company¹⁰, MindWorks Capital¹², Softbank Ventures Asia³, Brinc³.

What happened

Zipmex was founded in 2018 by Marcus Lim and Akalarp Yimwilai.¹³¹⁰ It aimed to offer a regulated crypto exchange and high-yield 'Earn' product to customers in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia.¹ Marcus Lim was an Australian entrepreneur who had exited OneFlare, a local services marketplace.¹¹⁰ Akalarp Yimwilai was a Thai legal advisor with a Master's from Georgetown and a doctorate in public administration.¹ Zipmex raised a $1.9 million seed round in January 2019.¹

In September 2019, Zipmex raised $3 million in a pre-Series A round led by Infinity Blockchain Holdings, valuing the company at $18 million.¹¹⁰ Zipmex launched country-centric digital currency exchange platforms in Indonesia and Australia.¹⁰ In 2020, Zipmex Thailand secured digital asset exchange and broker licenses from the Thai Ministry of Finance / Thai SEC.¹ In January 2021, Zipmex raised a $6 million Series A led by Jump Capital.¹ In August 2021, Zipmex closed a $41 million Series B led by B Capital and TNB Aura, with participation from Krungsri Finnovate, Plan B Media, and Master Ad.¹¹²

In September 2021, Zipmex added $11 million more to its Series B round.¹¹⁴ By late 2020, Zipmex had processed around $650 million+ in gross transaction volume.¹ Zipmex expanded across Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia and got licensed or regulated in each market.¹ In June 2022, Coinbase entered talks to buy Zipmex at a $700 million valuation, but the deal fell through after Coinbase's stock crashed.¹¹⁴ Zipmex had approximately $48 million with Babel Finance and $5 million with Celsius, locking up about $53 million in customer funds via its ZipUp+/Z Wallet program.¹

Zipmex filed for bankruptcy protection in Singapore on July 22, 2022, seeking moratoriums to prohibit legal proceedings.⁶¹⁷ On August 2, 2022, Zipmex resumed limited withdrawals of some assets after halting service on July 20 as ordered by Thai SEC.¹ On August 15, 2022, a Singapore court granted Zipmex a 3-month moratorium extension for restructuring.¹ On August 16, 2022, shareholders publicly asked CEO Marcus Lim to resign, blaming his decisions for the cash crunch.¹ In December 2022, Zipmex and Thai VC V Ventures announced a rescue deal where V Ventures would buy about 90% of Zipmex for $100 million.¹⁶

On March 23, 2023, V Ventures missed a $1.25 million payment due, casting doubt on the buyout.¹⁴ In April 2023, Zipmex confirmed buyout delays and acknowledged V Ventures had missed 4 payments, warning of layoffs in its Singapore tech unit.¹ In June 2023, Zipmex filed to extend its moratorium again, and the V Ventures deal was terminated.¹ Zipmex proposed new schemes of arrangement involving selling assets like its Indonesian business and crypto reserves to pay off debts.¹ The company projected creditors would recover only about 5.1% of what they were owed under the new plan.¹

On February 8, 2024, Thailand's SEC charged Zipmex Thailand's former CEO Akalarp Yimwilai with fraud and halted the Thai exchange.¹ The Thai SEC alleged that customer assets were transferred from Z Wallet to overseas wallets for Zipmex Global before terms & conditions were updated, and that false or misleading information was given.¹ On June 10, 2024, Thai SEC fully revoked Zipmex Thailand's digital asset exchange and broker licenses and ordered it to shut operations.¹ On February 17, 2025, Akalarp Yimwilai was sentenced to 5 years in prison for defrauding the public in relation to the Zipmex case.¹ According to a former employee, Zipmex liquidated its VC arm ZipX and left 200+ employees in Thailand unpaid without severance.¹

Zipmex failed because its funding model depended on risky lending, and when key partners froze up, Zipmex ran out of liquidity.¹ The big buyout rescue fell through when payments were missed, and the company ended up offering customers only a tiny fraction back.¹ Regulators ultimately stepped in, charging the former co-founder with deception.¹

Legal outcomes

• chargedThailand's SEC charged Zipmex Thailand's former CEO Akalarp Yimwilai with fraud on February 8, 2024.¹
• filedThai SEC filed a complaint against Zipmex Co. Ltd. for providing information that could cause a misunderstanding in trading price of the company's digital asset.¹⁶
• convictedAkalarp Yimwilai was sentenced to 5 years in prison for defrauding the public in relation to the Zipmex case on February 17, 2025.¹
• filedThai SEC fully revoked Zipmex Thailand's digital asset exchange and broker licenses on June 10, 2024.¹

Where the founders are now

Akalarp Yimwilai was sentenced to 5 years in prison for defrauding the public in relation to the Zipmex case.¹ Shareholders publicly asked CEO Marcus Lim to resign in August 2022.¹

Sources

1. 🤯 The Fall of Zipmex: How a “Safe” Crypto Exchange Collapsed, The Runway Ventures, Nov 30, 20
3. Why Zipmex Failed: Market Collapse | Startup Autopsy, UnicornBurn, 2023-01-01
4. Crypto Bankruptcies List: 9 Largest Companies that Failed, bitbo.io
6. Top 10 Biggest Crypto Failures of 2022 - Fintech Singapore, Fintech Singapore, 2022-12-20
10. Digital currency exchange Zipmex raises US$3m in pre-Series A round, The Business Times, 2019-09-30
12. Crypto exchange Zipmex raises $41M in Series B round for aggressive Asia expansion, Forkast, 2021-08-31
14. Coinbase and Zipmex: Bye acquisition, hi investment?, backscoop.com, 2022-06-10
16. Thai SEC Accuses Zipmex, Former CEO of Falsified Information, news.bloomberglaw.com, 2024-07-19
17. Crypto platform Zipmex files for bankruptcy protection in ..., reuters.com, Jul 28, 20

How this case file was put together

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