KuCoin operator Peken Global Limited has been barred from allowing U.S. users to access its platform after a federal court approved a consent order from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, closing 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 providing commercial access to U.S. participants unless it registers as a foreign chamber of commerce. Most importantly, it removes KuCoin’s previous release time limit in the United States, converting what was a two-year minimum withdrawal into an indefinite ban.
This action follows KuCoin’s guilty plea in January 2025 to operating an unlicensed money transfer business, which resulted in nearly $297 million in penalties and forfeitures. Taken together, these cases show how U.S. authorities pursued the exchange on multiple fronts, combining criminal anti-money laundering charges with civil market access violations.
The relatively low penalty in the CFTC case reflects the fact that much of the financial penalty has already been imposed in the criminal prosecution. The agency said it did not seek restitution, citing Peken’s cooperation and the forfeiture order issued in the parallel DOJ case.
KuCoin had approximately 1.5 million registered U.S. users and generated at least $184.5 million in fees, according to the DOJ. The exchange only introduced know-your-customer requirements in August 2023 and did not apply them to existing accounts, a shortcoming that has become central to the app.
The court also dismissed the remaining claims against affiliated entities Mek Global Limited, PhoenixFin PTE Ltd. and Flashdot Limited.
With the injunction now in place, KuCoin’s U.S. operations moved from temporary restriction to permanent closure, completing a rare sequential enforcement process that moved from criminal prosecutions to civil market bans.