Peken Global Limited, the operator of the cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin, has been banned indefinitely by court decision from opening its platform for users in the USA. The regulatory decision, approved by the Southern District Court of New York, made permanent the closure of the company’s operations in the United States.
Peken Global Limited’s operations in the USA have been permanently suspended
In accordance with the judicial decision, Peken Global Limited will be able to serve US participants only if it is registered with ‘foreign exchange’ status. The company must also pay an administrative fine of $500 thousand. This decision turned the obligation to withdraw from the USA, which was previously announced to last at least two years, into an indefinite ban.
Peken Global Limited is the main company behind the KuCoin platform and is known as one of the international cryptocurrency exchanges. The company has a significant user base worldwide; It has recently been subject to increased legal and regulatory scrutiny regarding its activities in the US market.
A new page in KuCoin’s adventure in the US market was opened when the company pleaded guilty to the crime of ‘unauthorized money transfer operation’ in January 2025. During this process, around 297 million dollars in fines and seizures were imposed. The latest court decision shows that the US authorities are taking action against KuCoin, both in terms of punishment and market access.
Violations, user accounts and sanctions
According to US Department of Justice data, KuCoin’s number of registered users in the country was around 1.5 million, and the exchange collected at least $184.5 million in transaction fees from these customers. One of the main bases of the investigation was that the platform introduced an identity verification (KYC) requirement, but only implemented it for new accounts and did not extend it to existing accounts.
In the relevant case, Mek Global Limited and PhoenixFin PTE Ltd, which are claimed to be related to KuCoin, are also involved. It was announced that the allegations against and Flashdot Limited were also dropped by the court.
The fine imposed in the case brought by the CFTC was more limited compared to other sanctions. The regulator did not request a separate return of income, citing the company’s cooperation with authorities and seizure orders brought through the Justice Department process.
Peken Global Limited’s cooperation in the criminal process and its compliance with the seizure order issued by the court were decisive in keeping additional sanctions limited.
These cases, which continue one after the other in the USA, have further brought to the fore the obligation of cryptocurrency platforms to comply with regulatory and security standards. The process, which started with a criminal case in the first place, seems to have been completed with the ban on civil market access.
As a result, KuCoin’s operations in the USA were completely closed by court order. In the future, the company’s ability to offer services in this market again was conditioned on obtaining the necessary regulatory permissions.
