A US federal court has approved a $500,000 settlement between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and KuCoin’s parent company, Peken Global Limited, ending a long-running case over access to unregistered trading for US users.
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US regulators have followed a similar path with other major offshore exchanges in recent years, underscoring that KuCoin is not an isolated case.
The CFTC case is resolved by court order
The US District Court for the Southern District of New York has issued a consent order permanently barring Peken Global from allowing US users to trade on KuCoin unless it is registered as a foreign trading board.
The court also imposed a civil fine of $500,000. Peken Global, based in the Turks and Caicos Islands, settled the matter without admitting or denying the accusations. the That’s enough for you He said the company cooperated with investigators and therefore did not face any additional violations.
Federal Court issues permanent injunction against Peken Global Limited: https://t.co/ceUdshuxK5
— Commodity Futures Trading Commission (@CFTC) March 30, 2026
The CFTC noted that its penalty took into account KuCoin’s previous $300 million payment following the Department of Justice case in January 2025. In that case, KuCoin pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transfer business.
The previous Justice Department fine was considered in the settlement
Regulators claimed that the exchange allowed approximately 1.5 million US customers to trade and received fees of approximately $184.5 million from those users.
In addition, this month, Dubai’s cryptocurrency regulator has issued a public warning about KuCoinSaying that the exchange may have provided services to Dubai residents without consent. The watchdog has a record of acting against unlicensed companies. In 2025, it fined 19 companies between 100,000 dirhams and 600,000 dirhams and ordered them to stop unauthorized cryptocurrency activities.
Taken together, the 2020 BitMEX accusations, Binance’s 2023 high-profile guilty pleas, and the most recent KuCoin charges
colony From 2025 to 2026, it draws a clear arc in Washington’s years-long campaign against unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges that quietly cater to American customers.
Binance has reached a historic decision in 2023when it and its CEO pleaded guilty in the United States and agreed to comprehensive sanctions and compliance obligations for failing to implement effective anti-money laundering controls while serving US users without proper registration.
BitMEX was previously subject to CFTC and Department of Justice actions announced in October 2020, after it allegedly operated an unregistered cryptocurrency derivatives platform and solicited US traders from abroad.
This article was written by Jared Kirroy at www.financemagnates.com.
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