KuCoin's U.S. business is now permanently shut down. A federal court in the Southern District of New York on March 31 approved a Commodity Futures Trading Commission consent order permanently barring KuCoin operator Peken Global Limited from allowing U.S. users to trade on its platform — unless it first registers as a foreign board of trade.

What the Order Does

The consent order imposes a $500,000 civil penalty and removes the time limit from KuCoin's earlier U.S. exit. The exchange had previously voluntarily withdrawn from the U.S. market as part of its January 2025 guilty plea in a separate DOJ case, but that withdrawal was framed as temporary. The new injunction makes it permanent.

The relatively small CFTC fine reflects that the bulk of financial penalties were already imposed in the criminal proceeding — KuCoin paid nearly $297 million in fines and forfeitures after pleading guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

Scale of the Violation

At its peak, KuCoin had approximately 1.5 million registered U.S. users and collected at least $184.5 million in fees from them. The exchange did not implement know-your-customer requirements until August 2023, and even then, did not apply them retroactively to existing accounts — a compliance gap that became central to the enforcement action.

The Bigger Picture

The case illustrates a two-track enforcement pattern U.S. authorities have applied to non-compliant exchanges: criminal prosecution first, then civil market access bans. The CFTC also dismissed remaining claims against affiliated entities Mek Global Limited, PhoenixFin PTE Ltd., and Flashdot Limited, wrapping up the regulatory saga entirely.