KuCoin operator Peken Global Limited has been barred from allowing US users onto its platform after a federal court approved a Commodity Futures Trading Commission consent order closing the exchange’s US enforcement case.
The order, entered in the Southern District of New York, requires Peken to pay a civil penalty of $500,000 and prohibits it from offering trade access to US participants unless it registers as a foreign trade council. More importantly, it removes the time limit from KuCoin’s previous US 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 transmission business, which resulted in nearly $297 million in fines and forfeitures. Together, the cases show how US authorities have pursued the exchange across multiple fronts, pairing criminal money laundering charges with civil market access violations.
The relatively small penalty in the CFTC case reflects that a large portion of the financial penalty was already imposed in the criminal case. The agency said it was not seeking disgorgement, citing Peken’s cooperation and the forfeiture order entered into in the parallel DOJ case.
KuCoin had about 1.5 million registered US users and generated at least $184.5 million in fees from them, according to the DOJ. The exchange only introduced know-your-customer requirements in August 2023 and did not apply them to existing accounts, a loophole that became central to enforcement.
The court also dismissed remaining claims against affiliated entities Mek Global Limited, PhoenixFin PTE Ltd. and Flashdot Limited.
With the injunction now in place, KuCoin’s US business has shifted from a temporary restriction to a permanent shutdown, ending a rare, sequential enforcement process that moved from criminal prosecution to civil market bans.
