Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin has agreed to pay $297m in penalties after pleading guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business in the US.
Announced by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, the guilty plea follows allegations that the platform violated US anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) laws.
Sassoon said: “For years, KuCoin avoided implementing required anti-money laundering policies designed to identify criminal actors and prevent illicit transactions.
“As a result, KuCoin was used to facilitate billions of dollars’ worth of suspicious transactions and to transmit potentially criminal proceeds, including proceeds from darknet markets and malware, ransomware, and fraud schemes.
“Today’s guilty plea and penalties show the cost of refusing to follow these laws and allowing unlawful activity to continue.”
Peken Global, the Seychelles-based entity behind KuCoin, admitted to failing to register with the US Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
According to the US Department of Justice, the company neglected to report suspicious transactions and operated without proper compliance frameworks.
The penalties include the forfeiture of $184.5m in earnings from US-based users and a criminal fine of $112.9m.
In addition to the financial settlement, KuCoin has committed to withdrawing from the US market for at least two years.
The company’s co-founders Chun Gan and Ke Tang, who were indicted in March 2024, will step down from their roles in KuCoin’s management. Both have also agreed to forfeit about $2.7m each, representing funds obtained from US operations.
Established in 2017, KuCoin claims to have over 30 million users and billions of dollars in daily trading volume. Between 2017 and 2024, the platform earned at least $184.5m in fees from approximately 1.5 million registered US users.
KuCoin allowed customers, including those in the US, to use its services without providing identifying information until mid-2023.
Although the company introduced a mandatory KYC programme in August 2023, it was not applied to all existing users, falling short of regulatory expectations.
