KuCoin Settles with U.S. CFTC, Highlighting Ongoing Crackdown on Unregistered Exchanges

A U.S. federal court has approved a $500,000 settlement between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and KuCoin's parent firm, Peken Global Limited. The consent order permanently bars the company from allowing U.S. participants to trade on KuCoin unless it registers as a foreign board of trade. Peken Global settled without admitting or denying the allegations, and the CFTC stated its cooperation avoided additional disgorgement.

The CFTC's penalty considered KuCoin's earlier $300 million payment to the Department of Justice in January 2025, related to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Regulators alleged the exchange served roughly 1.5 million U.S. customers, earning about $184.5 million in fees. Separately, Dubai's crypto regulator issued a public warning this month that KuCoin may have offered services to residents without approval.

This action continues a pattern of U.S. enforcement against offshore crypto exchanges. Binance's 2023 guilty plea and BitMEX's 2020 charges underscore a prolonged campaign against platforms serving U.S. users without proper registration.