Kucoin Faces FUD, KCS Price Plummets Instantly

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced serious charges against the global cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin, along with its two founders, Chun Gan (Michael) and Ke Tang (Eric). According to DOJ figures, KuCoin has received and processed over $9 billion in transactions from illegal sources.

Breaking: Cryptocurrency Exchange KuCoin and two of its founders criminally charged with bank secrecy act and unlicensed money fransmission offenses, each of which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. GAN, TANG, and KuCoin affirmatively attempted to conceal the…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 26, 2024

The indictment accuses KuCoin of being an illegal money transfer business and serious violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. Founders Gan and Tang are accused of directing the exchange to circumvent anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing programs, failing to conduct customer identity verification (KYC) procedures, or report activities as required.

According to the indictment, financial institutions like KuCoin need to comply with U.S. law to help detect and prevent crimes and other corruption conspiracies. However, KuCoin not only operates illegally in the U.S. but also has become a “haven” for money laundering and financing for criminals in the financial market.

In parallel with the DOJ’s indictment, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has also filed a civil lawsuit against KuCoin. The CFTC accuses KuCoin of providing both spot and derivative trading services without proper registration and violating the commission’s KYC requirements.

Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Darren McCormack described KuCoin as “a multibillion-dollar criminal conspiracy,” seeing it as one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges today.

Latest Update: KuCoin Considers Ceasing Operations and Selling Exchange. KuCoin Under Criminal Investigation by the United States in 2023 and Subject to Multiple Investigations in China.

Related: Binance, Kraken and KuCoin Removed from Apple Store India

Kucoin and Price Volatility

KuCoin was founded in September 2017 by Gan and Tang, operating under three different entities: FLASHDOT LIMITED, PEKEN GLOBAL LIMITED, and PHOENIXFIN PRIVATE LIMITED.

It is a well-known centralized exchange (CEX) with over 649 cryptocurrencies traded and more than 8 million users worldwide. The exchange offers various services such as spot trading, margin trading, derivatives, lending, trading bots, and its own token, KCS.

Following the investigation, the price of the KCS token dropped by 25%.