KuCoin Permanently Banned from U.S. Market After CFTC Settlement

TLDR

• A federal court approved a CFTC consent order permanently barring KuCoin’s operator, Peken Global Limited, from serving U.S. users without registering as a foreign board of trade.
• KuCoin must pay a $500,000 civil penalty to settle the CFTC case.
• This follows KuCoin’s January 2025 guilty plea, which resulted in nearly $297 million in penalties and forfeitures.
• KuCoin had around 1.5 million U.S. users and earned at least $184.5 million in fees from them.
• The ban converts what was a temporary U.S. withdrawal into a permanent shutdown of KuCoin’s American business.

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KuCoin’s operator, Peken Global Limited, has been permanently banned from serving U.S. customers after a federal court approved a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The order was entered in the Southern District of New York on March 31, 2026. It requires Peken to pay a $500,000 civil penalty.

Under the terms, KuCoin cannot allow U.S. users to access its platform unless it registers as a foreign board of trade with the CFTC. The exchange has not done so.

The ruling converts what had been a temporary, minimum two-year exit from the U.S. market into a permanent ban. KuCoin’s American business is now fully shut down.

This CFTC case is separate from a criminal case that concluded earlier. In January 2025, KuCoin pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. That case resulted in nearly $297 million in fines and forfeitures.

The CFTC originally sued Peken Global and three other entities tied to KuCoin in March 2024. The agency said the exchange ran an unregistered offshore platform and illegally allowed U.S. residents to trade.

Regulators said KuCoin accepted orders for commodity futures, swaps, and leveraged transactions without registering with the CFTC.

The agency also accused the exchange of using “sham” know-your-customer procedures that failed to stop U.S. customers from trading on the platform.

How Big Was KuCoin’s U.S. Business?

KuCoin had roughly 1.5 million registered U.S. users. The exchange earned at least $184.5 million in fees from those users, according to the Department of Justice. The CFTC put the trading fee figure at approximately $110 million.

KuCoin only introduced know-your-customer requirements in August 2023. It did not apply them to existing accounts, which became a key issue in enforcement actions.

Why Was the CFTC Penalty So Low?

The $500,000 civil penalty is small compared to the criminal case. The CFTC said it chose not to seek disgorgement, pointing to Peken’s cooperation and the large forfeitures already ordered in the DOJ case.

The court dismissed remaining claims against three affiliated entities: Mek Global Limited, PhoenixFin PTE Ltd., and Flashdot Limited.

KuCoin calls itself the “People’s Exchange.” It is based across the Seychelles, Cayman Islands, and Singapore. It remains one of the largest spot crypto exchanges globally, with a daily trading volume of $1.7 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

An attorney for KuCoin did not respond to a request for comment.

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