Dubai’s digital assets regulator said cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin has been operating without the necessary regulatory approvals and licenses and must cease and desist from serving clients in the region.
“Kucoin does not have any license to provide virtual asset services in/from Dubai. Any activity related to virtual assets advertised or carried out by this company is therefore in violation of VARA rules,” the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) said in a statement.
“Any promotion, advertising or solicitation related to Kucoin has not been approved by VARA and therefore the company is not permitted to offer, promote or market any Virtual Asset products or services in Dubai or to its residents,” the regulator added, advising consumers and investors in Dubai to avoid engaging with Kucoin.
The warning comes just weeks after Austria’s financial regulator banned KuCoin’s European arm from handling new business and onboarding clients due to a lack of adequate compliance staff.
A few months earlier, Austria’s Financial Supervisory Authority, FMA, granted KuCoin a Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) license to operate throughout the EU.
KuCoin, a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange founded in China in 2017, is now one of the largest offshore crypto platforms, ranked in the top 10 by trading volume.
