KuCoin and two founders hit with money laundering charges

• US DOJ has hit KuCoin and two founders with money laundering charges.
• KCS price fell sharply after the news.

The US Justice Department has charged KuCoin and two co-founders of the crypto exchange for operating “an unlicensed money transmitting business and for Bank Secrecy Act violations.

An announcement the US released on Tuesday, March 26 indicated the US had charged Chun Gan and Ke Tang for flouting US anti-money laundering laws as they sought to grow the exchange into one of the largest in the world today.

“As today’s Indictment alleges, KuCoin and its founders deliberately sought to conceal the fact that substantial numbers of U.S. users were trading on KuCoin’s platform,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a press release.

Williams added”

“KuCoin allegedly took advantage of its sizeable US customer base to become one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency derivatives and spot exchanges, with billions of dollars of daily trades and trillions of dollars of annual trade volume.”

As well as the DOJ’s criminal charges, KuCoin has also been sued by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The CFTC says KuCoin has operated an illegal crypto derivatives trading platform. Per the filing, the exchange allegedly offered commodity futures and swaps among other commodity related services without the approval of the commission.

KuCoin is the latest crypto exchange to face charges in the US, with Binance agreeing a $4.3 billion settlement for related violations. Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stepped down as part of the agreement. He pleaded guilty to charges and will be sentenced on April 30.

KuCoin price

Following today’s news, the price of KCS, the native KuCoin token, plummeted sharply. At the time of writing, KCS traded at $12.6, falling from highs of $14.50.

KuCoin posted on X shortly after the news release, assuring users that all assets were safe.

#KuCoin is operating well, and the assets of our users are absolutely safe. We are aware of the related reports and are currently investigating the details through our lawyers. KuCoin respect the laws and regulations of various countries and strictly adheres to compliance…

— KuCoin (@kucoincom) March 26, 2024