Kucoin caught up in American justice. American justice does not laugh with the regulations in force. Thus, in March 2024, the Kucoin platform entered the viewfinder of American regulators after omitting to recover information from its US -based users in the context of KYC procedures. Almost a year later, justice contrasts with a salty fine.
The key points of this article:
The Kucoin cryptocurrency platform was sanctioned by the American justice for non-compliance with KYC procedures and anti-flowage laws. Kucoin pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a fine of $ 297 million, while withdrawing from the American market for at least two years.
Kucoin in front of American justice
In March 2024, American justice pointed the finger at the Kucoin cryptocurrency exchange platform. Thus, she accused the latter of having omitted to collect information relating to KYC procedures for American users. As a result, Kucoin and his two founders had been accused of having allowed whitening of more than $ 9 billion. Just that.
«Kucoin has flouted American laws against money laundering by not implementing effective money laundering (“ AML ”) and knowledge of the client (“ KYC ”) intended to prevent Kucoin Either used for money laundering and terrorist financing, not declaring suspicious transactions and not registering with the financial crimes in Network (“Fincen”) of the United States department. »»
According to the Department of Justice, the platform illegally hosted more than 1.5 million users based in the USA. It would have garnered $ 18.5 million via the costs generated by these users.
Kucoin pleads guilty: a fine of $ 300M
Finally, almost a year after the first accusations, the American justice department has just revealed that an agreement had been reached with Kucoin. Thus, according to a document published on January 27, we learn that Kucoin pleaded guilty in this case.
«Kucoin, one of the greatest exchanges of cryptocurrencies in the world,» pleaded guilty today to an accusation of an exploitation of a company of transmission of funds without license. »»
Following this plea, the company agreed to pay a fine of $ 297 million. In addition, she agreed to completely leave the American market for a period of at least two years. Finally, in the event of a return to the USA, the two founders Chun Gan, alias «Michael», and Ke Tang, alias «Eric» will no longer be able to play a management role in Kucoin operations in the United States. However, the two founders have not yet emerged, as explained by the document published by the Department of Justice:
«Today, the ministry has also agreed to postpone the proceedings against the two co -founders of accused Kucoin, Gan and Tang, for a period of two years»
Always in the United States, the regulations in force already seem to be evolved following the takeover of Donald Trump. Indeed, the Dry recently announced to abandon the accounting rule SAB 121 which had been so debated.