Major cryptocurrency exchange accused of knowingly processing billions in criminal funds.
One of the world's largest cryptocurrency trading platforms stands accused of operating as an illicit money laundering vehicle.
Federal prosecutors charged KuCoin and its founders Chun Gan and Ke Tang with violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering program. They also face charges of running an unlicensed money transmission business.
According to the indictment, KuCoin processed over $5 billion in suspicious transactions tied to darknet black markets, malware, ransomware attacks, fraud, and sanctions violations since launching in 2017. Prosecutors allege over $4 billion in suspicious and criminal funds flowed out from KuCoin during that period.
Until July 2023, KuCoin allegedly failed to implement any identity verification process for its over 30 million users. It then only partially adopted KYC for new customers, leaving existing ones unverified.
Prosecutors claim KuCoin actively courted illicit business, advertising to U.S. customers in 2022 that they could trade anonymously without KYC on "unverified accounts."
"KuCoin allegedly took advantage of its sizeable U.S. customer base to become one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency derivatives and spot exchanges, with billions of dollars of daily trades and trillions of dollars of annual trade volume," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. "But financial institutions like KuCoin that take advantage of the unique opportunities available in the United States must also comply with U.S. law to help identify and drive out crime and corrupt financing schemes. KuCoin allegedly deliberately chose not to do so."
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