Peken Global Limited, the parent company of KuCoin, will pay a $500,000 civil penalty to settle allegations from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that it ran an unregistered offshore commodities exchange.
The US District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a consent order against Peken Global on Monday, resolving all of the CFTC’s claims against the company. Peken Global accepted the settlement without admitting or denying the charges.
The court spared the company from forcefully surrendering its profits earned between July 2019 and June 2023, the period covered by the charges. The settlement happened after the CFTC credited its willing cooperation throughout the investigation.
The CFTC also noted that the $500,000 penalty accounts for KuCoin’s earlier legal reckoning: in January 2025, the company pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a $300 million fine to resolve a parallel Department of Justice case charging it with operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
Your completely free resource hub designed to boost your knowledge of cryptocurrencies
KuCoin Banned from Serving American Users
Back in March 2024, the CFTC filed a lawsuit targeting not just Peken Global but also three other companies connected to KuCoin’s operations—Mek Global Limited, PhoenixFin PTE Ltd., and Flashdot Limited. At the time, the agency pushed for steep consequences, including permanent trading bans against all four firms.
Regulators alleged that KuCoin ran fake know-your-customer procedures and failed to take meaningful steps to block US customers from accessing the platform. US regulators require crypto platforms serving American customers to follow strict rules designed to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, sanctions evasion, and fraud. Offshore exchanges like KuCoin (which is based in the Seychelles) are not licensed in the US, so the simplest way to stay legal is to block US users entirely.
The CFTC also charged the company with failing to register as a futures commission merchant or foreign board of trade, which are the basic requirements for any entity offering commodity derivatives to American traders.
Under the terms of the new agreement, Peken Global cannot allow US residents to trade on KuCoin unless it first registers with the CFTC as a foreign board of trade. The settlement concludes years of regulatory pressure on one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges and signals that US authorities will continue to hold offshore platforms accountable for their treatment of American customers.
