Kucoin Refutes Report Claiming Significant Decline in Bitcoin Reserves

Crypto exchange Kucoin has refuted claims suggesting it has lost over 77% of its bitcoin (BTC) reserves since the implementation of a mandatory know your customer (KYC) policy announced on June 28, 2023. The exchange maintains that data presented on the analytics platform Cryptoquant to support this assertion is "factually incorrect and highly misleading."

In a post on the social media platform X, Kucoin stated that the figures cited in research by a Cryptoquant "Quicktake" author do not, in fact, "reflect our actual holdings."

Kucoin's response followed the publication of a report by the Cryptoquant author, identified as "Onchainschool." The report's data indicated a decline in Kucoin's BTC holdings from 18,300 BTC on June 28, 2023, down to approximately 4,100 BTC. The author claimed that rumors surrounding the KYC requirement, which began on June 5, 2023, were the catalyst for this decline.

The Cryptoquant "Quicktake" author concluded in their report: "While it's true that the long-term trend of declining BTC reserves on CEXs is observed across the industry, Kucoin's case is extreme. The timing and magnitude of this outflow strongly correlate with the enforcement of KYC." The author also suggested that the reported decline further illustrates how sensitive users remain to compliance-related changes, particularly when the privacy of their information is perceived to be at risk.

However, in pushing back against these assertions, Kucoin issued a warning to Cryptoquant regarding the dissemination of information that could potentially erode market trust in digital asset platforms.

The crypto exchange stated, "We are deeply concerned by the publication of such unverified claims and urge Cryptoquant to act responsibly and exercise greater diligence when sharing data that may impact market trust."

Kucoin also directed users to its official proof of reserves (POR) page as a means to verify the status of its BTC holdings. According to the information displayed on the POR website as of April 30, 2025, Kucoin's reserves were overcollateralized, with the BTC reserve ratio reported at 106% and the ETH reserve ratio reported at 116%.