Jimi Aki reports:
KuCoin, a major cryptocurrency exchange, has been hit with a $297 million settlement after admitting to a regulatory breach in the United States. The settlement includes a criminal fine of $112.9 million and a forfeiture of $184.5 million, and KuCoin will be required to exit the U.S. market for at least two years.
KuCoin Faces Major Penalty for Regulatory Breach
The U.S. Department of Justice highlighted that KuCoin’s failure to implement proper compliance measures, including anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) protocols, led to a regulatory breach.
This allowed billions of dollars in potentially illicit transactions involving proceeds from darknet markets, ransomware, and fraud to flow through the platform.
Prosecutors also pointed out that KuCoin failed to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a key regulatory requirement.
As part of the regulatory breach settlement, KuCoin’s founders, Chun Gan (Michael) and Ke Tang (Eric) have agreed to step down from their leadership roles.
They also forfeited $2.7 million each and entered into two-year deferred prosecution agreements.
Read more at Economy Watch.