KuCoin operator barred from U.S. after CFTC order, following $297 Million DOJ case
KuCoin operator Peken Global Limited cannot cater to U.S. users on its platform unless it registers as a foreign board of trade.
What to know:
- A federal court approved a CFTC consent order permanently barring KuCoin operator Peken Global Limited from allowing U.S. users on its platform unless it registers as a foreign board of trade.
- The order imposes a $500,000 civil penalty and follows KuCoin’s January 2025 guilty plea in a separate criminal case that resulted in nearly $297 million in penalties and forfeitures.
- KuCoin once had about 1.5 million U.S. users and earned at least $184.5 million in fees from them, and the new injunction converts what had been a temporary U.S. withdrawal into a permanent shutdown of its American business.
KuCoin operator Peken Global Limited has been barred from allowing U.S. users onto its platform after a federal court approved a Commodity Futures Trading Commission consent order, closing out the exchange’s U.S. enforcement saga.
The order, entered in the Southern District of New York, requires Peken to pay a $500,000 civil penalty and prohibits it from offering trading access to U.S. participants unless it registers as a foreign board of trade. More importantly, it removes the time limit from KuCoin’s earlier U.S. exit, converting what had been a minimum two-year withdrawal into an indefinite ban.
The action follows KuCoin’s January 2025 guilty plea to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, which carried nearly $297 million in penalties and forfeitures. Taken together, the cases show how U.S. authorities have pursued the exchange across multiple fronts, pairing criminal anti-money laundering charges with civil market access violations.
The relatively small penalty in the CFTC case reflects that much of the financial punishment was already imposed in the criminal proceeding. The agency said it did not seek disgorgement, citing Peken’s cooperation and the forfeiture order entered in the parallel DOJ case.
