The crypto exchange KuCoin will pay a $297 million penalty to the US government stemming from compliance violations.
Peken Global Limited, the Seychelles-based company that operates KuCoin, has pled guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, according to a new press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
U.S. Attorney Danielle R. Sassoon says the exchange failed to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) program and failed to report suspicious 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.”
KuCoin has agreed to criminally forfeit $184.5 million and pay a fine of $112.9 million, and the firm will exit the US market for at least two years.
Two of the exchange’s founders, Chun Gan and Ke Tang, each agreed to forfeit approximately $2.7 million in funds. Neither founder will have any role in KuCoin’s management or operations going forward.
KuCoin is the 17th-largest crypto exchange in the world in terms of monthly visits, according to data from CoinGecko.
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