KuCoin operator barred from U.S. after CFTC order, following $297 Million DOJ case

KuCoin operator Peken Global Limited has been barred from allowing U.S. users onto its platform after a federal court approved a Commodity Futures Trading Commission consent order, closing out the exchange’s U.S. enforcement saga.

The order, entered in the Southern District of New York, requires Peken to pay a $500,000 civil penalty and prohibits it from offering trading access to U.S. participants unless it registers as a foreign board of trade. More importantly, it removes the time limit from KuCoin’s earlier U.S. 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 transmitting business, which carried nearly $297 million in penalties and forfeitures. Taken together, the cases show how U.S. authorities have pursued the exchange across multiple fronts, pairing criminal anti-money laundering charges with civil market access violations.

The relatively small penalty in the CFTC case reflects that much of the financial punishment was already imposed in the criminal proceeding. The agency said it did not seek disgorgement, citing Peken’s cooperation and the forfeiture order entered in the parallel DOJ case.

KuCoin had roughly 1.5 million registered U.S. users and generated at least $184.5 million in fees from them, according to the DOJ. The exchange introduced know-your-customer requirements only in August 2023 and did not apply them to existing accounts, a gap 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 U.S. business has shifted from a temporary restriction to a permanent shutdown, completing a rare, sequential enforcement process that moved from criminal prosecution to civil market bans.