This investigation, with its roots a few years ago, was being led by the United States Department of Justice. The agency probed further into the laundering of billions of dollars from illegal activities and transactions.
KuCoin reportedly deliberately avoided implementing proper AML policies, which made it impossible to identify users-so applying KYC, which indeed came in 2023 and thus later than for most competitors-but in particular users involved in criminal activities that should be prevented from moving illicit transactions.
Due to this, billions of dollars in suspicious transactions could flow through KuCoin and proceeds from Darknet Markets, Ransomware, and Fraud.
The settlement agreement was on the ground of KuCoin leaving the U.S. market for a minimum period of two years. The two founders of the exchange, Chun "Michael" Gan and Ke "Eric" Tang agreed to step down, forfeiting $2.7 million in funds derived from the proceeds KuCoin generated in the United States.
The investigation found that KuCoin alone had amassed 1.5 million registered users, with at least $184.5 million in commission profits for U.S. residents. Among other evidence provided, KuCoin employees prided themselves on the fact that they did not have a money laundering program, touting it as one of their strengths. In reality, KuCoin did not adopt an anti-money laundering program until August 2023, and even before that, it had not kept up with registered users.
The case underlines precisely how meaningful anti-money laundering regulations will prove to be in the cryptocurrency industry, considering exchanges have to take efficient measures not to allow their platforms for illicit activity purposes.
If you liked the article, subscribe and leave a like to not miss the next updates
Here below some links if you'd like to support me:
Coinpayu (earn 1/100$ each day without cash investment)
https://www.coinpayu.com/lp4/KMatt8
Timebucks (earn 1/50$ each day without cash investment)
https://timebucks.com/?refID=225018746
Cointiply (earn 1/50$ each month without cash investment)
