VASPCheck

VASP Compliance Summary — KuCoin

Peken Global Limited · Exchange · Seychelles

Exported 2026-08-25

Data reviewed 2026-08-02

Overview

Compliance snapshot

Overall regulatory statusNot licensed

EU MiCA statusNo EU authorization

No EU CASP authorization; blocked or restricted in several EU markets
US guilty plea and market exit in 2025
Trustpilot 2.9/5 · 4,200 reviews
2020 hot-wallet hack of USD 281m (mostly recovered)

High concern

Thinly licensed offshore venue with a US guilty plea in 2025, multiple national warnings and no EU CASP authorization.

Authorizations

Licenses & registrations

Jurisdiction	Regulator	Authorization	Status	Reference	Granted
Seychelles	Financial Services Authority FSA · https://fsaseychelles.sc/regulated-entities	Company registration (no VASP licence)	Not licensed	IBC-215442	2017-08-15
Netherlands	Autoriteit Financiële Markten AFM · https://www.afm.nl/en/sector/registers	CASP authorization	Not licensed	—	—
United States	Financial Crimes Enforcement Network FinCEN · https://www.fincen.gov/msb-registrant-search	MSB registration	Revoked	31000-1178-3312	2021-03-09

Reputation

Reputation scores

Trustpilot-style score2.9 / 5

Reviews4,200

App Store4.1

Google Play3.5

12-month trenddown

Press sentiment (12m)+1 / ~3 / −7

Media

Recent press

Date	Source	Headline & summary	Sentiment
2026-06-17	Reuters	Exchange restructures under new ownership A consortium took a majority stake and pledged licensing investment.	Neutral
2026-04-02	Financial Times	European supervisors repeat public warning Two national authorities listed the platform as unauthorised.	Negative
2026-01-15	CoinDesk	Withdrawal complaints rise on support forums Users reported extended verification hold times.	Negative
2025-01-27	Bloomberg	Platform pleads guilty in US case and exits market The venue agreed to cease serving US customers for two years.	Negative

Risk events

Incidents & enforcement

Date	Type	Amount	Description
2025-01-27	Enforcement	USD 297,000,000	Guilty plea to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business in the United States.
2023-12-12	Fine	USD 22,000,000	New York settlement over unregistered securities and commodities trading.
2020-09-26	Hack	USD 281,000,000	Hot wallet breach; the majority of stolen assets were later recovered or covered.

Profile

Key facts

Founded2017

Websitekucoin.com

Fiat currenciesUSD (P2P), EUR (P2P)

Proof of reservesYes

Custody modelOmnibus wallets, self-published reserve report

Legal entitiesPeken Global Limited (SC) · MEK Global Limited (SC)

KuCoin

Not licensedNo EU authorizationESMA register

Peken Global Limited

Exchange🇸🇨 Seychelles Founded 2017kucoin.com

Visit website

Last reviewed

2026-08-02

Compliance snapshot

No EU CASP authorization; blocked or restricted in several EU markets
US guilty plea and market exit in 2025
Trustpilot 2.9/5 · 4,200 reviews
2020 hot-wallet hack of USD 281m (mostly recovered)

Overall concern

High concern

Thinly licensed offshore venue with a US guilty plea in 2025, multiple national warnings and no EU CASP authorization.

Regulatory

Licenses & registrations

Jurisdiction	Regulator	Authorization	Status	Reference	Granted
🇸🇨 Seychelles	Financial Services AuthorityFSA	Company registration (no VASP licence)	Not licensed	IBC-215442	2017-08-15
🇳🇱 Netherlands	Autoriteit Financiële MarktenAFM	CASP authorization	Not licensed	—	—
🇺🇸 United States	Financial Crimes Enforcement NetworkFinCEN	MSB registration	Revoked	31000-1178-3312	2021-03-09

🇸🇨 Seychelles
Not licensed
Company registration (no VASP licence)
Financial Services AuthorityFSA
IBC-2154422017-08-15
🇳🇱 Netherlands
Not licensed
CASP authorization
Autoriteit Financiële MarktenAFM
——
🇺🇸 United States
Revoked
MSB registration
Financial Crimes Enforcement NetworkFinCEN
31000-1178-33122021-03-09

User signals

Reputation

Trustpilot-style score

2.9/ 5

2.9

4,200 reviews

Declining (12m)

App ratings

App Store: 4.1
Google Play: 3.5

Press sentiment (12m)

Positive1

Neutral3

Negative7

Media

Recent press

2026-06-17
Exchange restructures under new ownershipNeutral
Reuters — A consortium took a majority stake and pledged licensing investment.
2026-04-02
European supervisors repeat public warningNegative
Financial Times — Two national authorities listed the platform as unauthorised.
2026-01-15
Withdrawal complaints rise on support forumsNegative
CoinDesk — Users reported extended verification hold times.
2025-01-27
Platform pleads guilty in US case and exits marketNegative
Bloomberg — The venue agreed to cease serving US customers for two years.

History

Incidents & enforcement

2025-01-27EnforcementUSD 297,000,000
Guilty plea to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business in the United States.
2023-12-12FineUSD 22,000,000
New York settlement over unregistered securities and commodities trading.
2020-09-26HackUSD 281,000,000
Hot wallet breach; the majority of stolen assets were later recovered or covered.