KuCoin to Pay Nearly $300M Fine After Pleading Guilty to DOJ Charges

KuCoin was utilized to launder billions successful proceeds from darknet markets, malware, ransomware and fraud schemes, U.S. Attorney Danielle R. Sassoon said successful a statement.

Jan 28, 2025, 5:07 a.m. UTC

KuCoin has pled blameworthy to 1 number of operating an unlicensed wealth transmitting concern and has agreed to wage penalties of $297 million, the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said successful a release connected Tuesday.

"KuCoin avoided implementing required anti-money laundering policies designed to place transgression actors and forestall illicit transactions," U.S. Attorney Danielle R. Sassoon said successful a statement.

"KuCoin was utilized to facilitate billions of dollars’ worthy of suspicious transactions and to transmit perchance transgression proceeds, including proceeds from darknet markets and malware, ransomware, and fraud schemes," the connection added.

As portion of the blameworthy plea, KuCoin has agreed to exit the U.S. marketplace for atleast 2 years and 2 of the exchange's founders, Chun "Michael" Gan and Ke "Eric" Tang, volition besides depart from the company.

KuCoin served astir 1.5 cardinal registered users who were located successful the U.S., and earned astatine slightest astir $184.5 cardinal successful fees from those U.S. registered users, the merchandise said.

The merchandise notes that KuCoin employees openly promoted that the speech did not person a know-your-customer (KYC) program. It was lone successful August 2023 that KuCoin adopted a KYC process, but it wasn't implemented connected existing customers.

Gan and Tang, the exchange's founders, person agreed to forfeit astir $2.7 cardinal successful funds that were generated arsenic a effect of KuCoin's operations successful the U.S.

In a press merchandise from KuCoin, Gan said helium was stepping down from the speech to guarantee its continued occurrence and helium had nary intent to interruption immoderate U.S. oregon planetary law.

KCS, KuCoin's speech token, is up 10% on-day, according to CoinGecko data, nevertheless the token is thinly traded.

Sam Reynolds

Sam Reynolds is simply a elder newsman based successful Asia. Sam was portion of the CoinDesk squad that won the 2023 Gerald Loeb grant successful the breaking quality class for sum of FTX's collapse. Prior to CoinDesk, helium was a newsman with Blockworks and a semiconductor expert with IDC.