KuCoin has pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmission service and will pay over $297 million in penalties, according to a statement released by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York on Monday. US Attorney Danielle R.
Sassoon noted that KuCoin intentionally avoided implementing necessary anti-money laundering policies aimed at identifying and preventing illicit transactions. The exchange facilitated billions of dollars in suspicious transactions, including proceeds from darknet markets, malware, ransomware, and other fraudulent activities.
As part of the plea agreement, KuCoin will exit the US market for at least two years, and two of its founders, Chun 'Michael' Gan and Ke 'Eric' Tang, will leave the company. KuCoin had approximately 1.5 million registered US users and earned around $184.5 million in fees from them. The exchange's employees openly promoted the fact that it lacked a know-your-customer program until August 2023, when a KYC process was introduced, although it was not applied to existing customers. The founders have agreed to forfeit around $2.7 million in funds generated by KuCoin's US operations.
In a statement, Gan announced his resignation to ensure the exchange's continued success, claiming he had no intention of violating US or international laws. KuCoin's exchange token, KCS, has seen a 10% increase, according to CoinGecko data, despite being thinly traded.