KuCoin failed to comply with money laundering laws, used for $9 billion in suspicious crypto trades, US says

US prosecutors indicted. KuCoinOne of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, and its two founders, for failing to comply with US anti-money laundering laws.

Since KuCoin’s launch in September 2017, the exchange has “deliberately failed” to prevent the platform from being used for illegal activities, including terrorist financing, by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. In establishing and maintaining it charged on Tuesday. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the company also did not have adequate controls in place to verify customers’ identities or file suspicious transaction reports on the exchange.

“Even by failing to enforce basic anti-money laundering policies, the defendants used KuCoin to operate in the shadows of the financial markets and as a haven for illegal money laundering,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. Allowed.” He added that the exchange received more than $5 billion and sent more than $4 billion in suspicious and criminal funds.

gave Commodity Futures Trading CommissionThe derivatives markets watchdog also filed a lawsuit against the firm on Tuesday.

This news led to a stampede to withdraw money from KuCoin. The exchange had a net outflow of $278 million in stablecoins on Tuesday, the most in a single day since the collapse of FTX in November 2022, based on data from CryptoQuant data.

“KuCoin is functioning well, and our customers’ assets are absolutely safe,” the company said in a statement in response to the allegations. “We are aware of the relevant reports and are currently investigating the details through our lawyers.” KuCoin also stated that it “respects the laws and regulations of various countries and strictly adheres to compliance standards.”

The company took steps to conceal that a large number of U.S. users used the platform to claim it was exempt from U.S. requirements, prosecutors said. “Today’s indictment should send a clear message to other crypto exchanges: If you intend to serve US consumers, you must follow US law, plain and simple,” Williams said. .

According to CoinMarketCap, KuCoin is one of the largest spot crypto exchanges in the world with a daily trading volume of over $2 billion.

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