A U.S. court has permanently barred Peken Global Limited, a KuCoin operator, from allowing U.S. users to access its platform without proper registration as a foreign board of trade. The District Court for the Southern District of New York approved a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) consent order on March 30, also imposing a $500,000 civil penalty on the company. This action came just weeks after Dubai's crypto regulator issued a cease-and-desist order against KuCoin and its related entities on March 5.
The Dubai regulator warned that KuCoin may be providing crypto services to Dubai residents without necessary regulatory approvals and misrepresenting its licensing status. The entities targeted include Peken Global Limited, Phoenixfin, MEK Global, and KuCoin Exchange EU GmbH. The federal regulator originally sued these entities in March 2024 for running an unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange.
Founded in 2017, KuCoin is a global crypto trading exchange offering spot and derivatives trading, staking, and lending services. According to the Department of Justice, between September 2017 and March 2024, the exchange served approximately 1.5 million registered users in the U.S. and earned approximately $184.5 million in fees from them. This dual regulatory action from both U.S. and Dubai authorities highlights the increasing global coordination in cryptocurrency enforcement.
