KuCoin Pays $500,000 to Settle CFTC Lawsuit, Bars U.S. User Access
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued KuCoin’s operating entity on March 26, 2024, alleging that it offered crypto-asset derivatives and leveraged trading to U.S. customers without registering from July 2019 to June 2023. The case centered on offshore exchanges’ regulatory obligations in the United States. Separately, KuCoin agreed in January 2025 to pay nearly $297 million to resolve a Justice Department criminal case.
On March 30, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York approved a consent order between the CFTC and Peken Global Limited, imposing a $500,000 civil penalty without requiring disgorgement. The court also issued a permanent injunction barring KuCoin from allowing U.S. users to access its platform unless it registers with the CFTC as a foreign board of trade or an eligible futures intermediary, formally ending the civil case.
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The history behind this eventKuCoin Fails to Pay $2 Million Award in Delisted Token Dispute
KuCoin treated user assets not withdrawn by its deadline after a token delisting as “abandoned,” prompting a Swiss investor to sue. The Supreme Court of Seychelles rejected that treatment and ordered the exchange to pay more than $2 million. The case raises questions about whether centralized exchanges may dispose of customer assets under their platform rules.
As of July 20, 2026, the investor said KuCoin had yet to pay the court-ordered sum of more than $2 million and was preparing further legal action over asset preservation and enforcement of the judgment. The dispute has expanded beyond token-delisting procedures to whether the exchange will comply with the court order and whether the money can ultimately be recovered.
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