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US accuses cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin of anti-money laundering violations
March 26 (Reuters) – Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Tuesday charged KuCoin, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, with violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws by failing to verify its customers, enabling the transfer of billions of dollars in illicit funds since its founding in 2017.
Prosecutors said the Seychelles-based exchange sought business from U.S. customers without registering with the Treasury Department and without putting in place procedures to verify customers’ identities as required by U.S. law.
KuCoin posted on social media site X that customer assets were safe and that its lawyers were looking into the allegations.
“KuCoin complies with the laws and regulations of various countries and strictly adheres to compliance standards,” he said.
Prosecutors also charged the exchange’s founders, Chinese men Chun Gan, 34, and Ke Tang, 39, with conspiracy. They remain at large, prosecutors said.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission separately filed a civil complaint against KuCoin, alleging it failed to register its futures and swaps business with the regulator.
In December, KuCoin agreed to block New York users from its platform and pay $22 million to settle the lawsuit brought by the state accusing him of failing to register there.
According to data firm CoinMarketCap, KuCoin lags behind Binance, Coinbase and Kraken among spot cryptocurrency exchanges on factors such as traffic, liquidity and trading volumes.
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Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; editing by Andrea Ricci and Costas Pitas
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