Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are accusing KuCoin, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, of violating US anti-money laundering regulations by failing to verify customers.
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged KuCoin, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, with breaching US anti-money laundering rules by failing to verify users, allowing billions of dollars in illicit transactions to be exchanged since its creation in 2017.
Prosecutors said the Seychelles-based exchange solicited business from US customers without first registering with the Treasury Department and implementing processes to verify clients’ identities, as required by US law.
KuCoin stated on social media site X that customer assets are secure, and company lawyers are investigating the allegations.
“KuCoin respects the laws and regulations of various countries and strictly adheres to compliance standards,” according to the statement.
Prosecutors also accused the exchange’s founders, Chinese nationals Chun Gan, 34, and Ke Tang, 39, of conspiracy. They are still at large, according to prosecutors.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a legal lawsuit against KuCoin, saying that it failed to register its futures and swaps activity with the agency.
In December, KuCoin agreed to exclude New York users from its site and pay $22 million to settle the state’s lawsuit accusing it of failing to register there.
KuCoin trails Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken among cryptocurrency spot exchanges in terms of traffic, liquidity, and trading volumes, according to statistics provider CoinMarketCap.
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