{"id":822546,"date":"2025-01-28T06:11:40","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T12:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/28\/kucoin-pleads-guilty-to-operating-unlicensed-business-paying-300m-in-fines\/"},"modified":"2025-01-28T06:11:40","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T12:11:40","slug":"kucoin-pleads-guilty-to-operating-unlicensed-business-paying-300m-in-fines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/28\/kucoin-pleads-guilty-to-operating-unlicensed-business-paying-300m-in-fines\/","title":{"rendered":"KuCoin pleads guilty to operating unlicensed business paying $300M in fines"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-id=\"161550\" data-url=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/kucoin-unlicensed-operation-300m-fines\/\">\n<section>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/regulation\/\" rel=\"tag\"><br \/>\n                    Regulation                <\/a>\n                    <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/\">Home<\/a><\/span> \u00bb <span><a href=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/regulation\/\">Regulation<\/a><\/span> \u00bb <span aria-current=\"page\">KuCoin pleads guilty to operating unlicensed business paying $300M in fines<\/span><\/span>        <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><span>by<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a data-author_id=\"38186\" href=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/team\/estefano-gomez\/\" rel=\"author\">Estefano Gomez<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2025-01-27T22:00:46+00:00\"><br \/>\n                        Jan. 27, 2025                    <\/time>\n                            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<h2>Seychelles-based KuCoin resolves criminal and civil cases with $300 million in penalties, while founders sign deferred prosecution agreements.<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n            <picture><source media=\"(min-width: 850px)\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/6983143b-b2b1-4ccd-b45e-c5ef219dc7c4.jpg\" alt=\"KuCoin pleads guilty to operating unlicensed business paying $300M in fines\" title=\"http:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/6983143b-b2b1-4ccd-b45e-c5ef219dc7c4.jpg\">\n            <\/picture>\n        <\/section>\n<p>Photo: Maor Winetrob<\/p>\n<section>\n<section>\n<h3>Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>KuCoin pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, agreeing to pay $300 million in fines.<\/li>\n<li>KuCoin founders were accused of failing to implement an anti-money-laundering program, violating the Bank Secrecy Act.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Share this article<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>        <?xml encoding=\"UTF-8\"><\/p>\n<p>KuCoin, a Seychelles-based crypto exchange, pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and agreed to pay $300 million in combined fines and forfeitures, according to a Bloomberg <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2025-01-27\/kucoin-pleads-guilty-in-crypto-case-agrees-to-pay-300-million\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">report. <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Peken Global Ltd., one of three entities operating as KuCoin, entered the plea on Monday in Manhattan before US District Judge Andrew Carter. The penalties consist of a $113 million fine and $184.5 million in forfeitures.<\/p>\n<p>KuCoin founders Chun Gan and Ke Tang were charged with conspiring to operate an unlicensed business and failing to implement an anti-money-laundering program. Both agreed to deferred prosecution agreements and will forfeit $2.7 million each.<\/p>\n<p>The indictment alleged that KuCoin violated the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to verify customer identities, establish proper anti-money-laundering protocols, and file suspicious activity reports. <\/p>\n<p>These compliance failures reportedly enabled the exchange to process billions in transactions, including those tied to illicit activities.<\/p>\n<p>The exchange previously settled a civil case with the New York Attorney General\u2019s Office in December 2023, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ag.ny.gov\/press-release\/2023\/attorney-general-james-secures-more-22-million-cryptocurrency-platform-operating\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\">paying <\/a>$22 million in fines and agreeing to stop operations in the state. <\/p>\n<p><html><body><\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-banner mrec-in-article\"><\/div>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p>New York authorities had accused KuCoin of operating without proper registration as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and misrepresenting itself as a crypto exchange.<\/p>\n<p>The case follows recent enforcement action against BitMEX, another Seychelles-based crypto exchange, which was ordered to pay $100 million for violating US anti-money laundering laws.<\/p>\n<section class=\"article-share\">\n<p>Share this article<\/p>\n<div class=\"social-icons\">\n          <button class=\"social-icon share\" data-href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/intent\/tweet?text=KuCoin+pleads+guilty+to+operating+unlicensed+business+paying+%24300M+in+fines&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fcryptobriefing.com%2Fkucoin-unlicensed-operation-300m-fines%2F&#038;via=crypto_briefing\" aria-label=\"Share on x\"><br \/>\n        <?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?><br \/>\n                <svg width=\"40px\" height=\"40px\" viewBox=\"0 0 40 40\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\n                <g id=\"surface1\">\n                <path style=\" stroke:none;fill-rule:nonzero;fill:rgb(0%,0%,0%);fill-opacity:1;\" d=\"M 17.867188 0.148438 C 10.839844 0.878906 4.558594 5.507812 1.707031 12.054688 C -0.132812 16.28125 -0.441406 21.148438 0.867188 25.625 C 2.480469 31.214844 6.652344 35.933594 12.054688 38.292969 C 16.28125 40.132812 21.148438 40.4375 25.628906 39.132812 C 32.332031 37.199219 37.613281 31.695312 39.347656 24.851562 C 42.054688 14.132812 35.414062 3.171875 24.667969 0.613281 C 22.304688 0.0546875 20.226562 -0.09375 17.867188 0.148438 Z M 18.132812 12.535156 C 19.839844 14.800781 21.28125 16.667969 21.332031 16.667969 C 21.386719 16.667969 23.160156 14.800781 25.253906 12.535156 L 29.078125 8.398438 L 31.253906 8.398438 L 30.785156 8.894531 C 30.519531 9.171875 28.785156 11.054688 26.933594 13.066406 C 25.078125 15.078125 23.265625 17.039062 22.90625 17.398438 L 22.265625 18.078125 L 27.265625 24.734375 C 30.011719 28.398438 32.265625 31.441406 32.265625 31.492188 C 32.265625 31.558594 30.628906 31.601562 28.640625 31.601562 L 25 31.585938 L 21.613281 27.054688 C 19.28125 23.921875 18.1875 22.574219 18.078125 22.652344 C 18 22.71875 16.105469 24.761719 13.867188 27.1875 L 9.800781 31.601562 L 8.773438 31.601562 C 8.199219 31.601562 7.734375 31.574219 7.734375 31.535156 C 7.734375 31.492188 9.851562 29.171875 12.441406 26.386719 C 15.011719 23.601562 17.148438 21.265625 17.171875 21.226562 C 17.1875 21.171875 15.066406 18.28125 12.464844 14.800781 C 9.867188 11.332031 7.734375 8.464844 7.734375 8.441406 C 7.734375 8.414062 9.371094 8.398438 11.386719 8.398438 L 15.039062 8.398438 Z M 18.132812 12.535156 \" \/>\n                <path style=\" stroke:none;fill-rule:nonzero;fill:rgb(0%,0%,0%);fill-opacity:1;\" d=\"M 11.027344 10.1875 C 11.082031 10.28125 14.441406 14.785156 18.464844 20.171875 L 25.800781 29.988281 L 27.441406 30 C 28.453125 30 29.066406 29.945312 29.039062 29.867188 C 29.027344 29.800781 25.679688 25.292969 21.628906 19.867188 L 14.238281 10 L 12.585938 10 C 11.214844 10 10.933594 10.027344 11.027344 10.1875 Z M 11.027344 10.1875 \" \/>\n                <\/g>\n                <\/svg>      <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/kucoin-unlicensed-operation-300m-fines\/\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Estefano Gomez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Regulation Home \u00bb Regulation \u00bb KuCoin pleads guilty to operating unlicensed business paying $300M in fines by Estefano Gomez Jan. 27, 2025 Seychelles-based KuCoin resolves criminal and civil cases with $300 million in penalties, while founders sign deferred prosecution agreements. Photo: Maor Winetrob Key Takeaways KuCoin pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, agreeing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":822547,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73720,481],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-822546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kucoin","8":"category-pleads"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/822547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}