KuCoin’s parent company, Peken Global Limited, has agreed to pay a $500,000 civil penalty to settle Commodity Futures Trading Commission claims that it operated an unregistered offshore commodities exchange.
In a consent order announced Monday, Peken resolved the CFTC’s enforcement action without admitting or denying the agency’s allegations. The regulator said the company cooperated with the investigation and, as a result, was not required to disgorge any profits earned during the period the complaint covered (roughly July 2019 to June 2023).
The CFTC’s case accused Peken of running an unregistered futures commission merchant or foreign board of trade and of failing to maintain adequate know-your-customer procedures — shortcomings that put U.S. customers at regulatory risk. The consent order permanently enjoins Peken from future violations, effectively barring the exchange from serving Americans unless it obtains the necessary approvals.
The $500,000 penalty also factors in a separate, earlier enforcement action: a roughly $300 million fine that Peken (or related entities) paid in a Department of Justice case alleging operation of an unlicensed money-transmitter business.
Regulatory scrutiny of the exchange has not been limited to U.S. agencies. Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority recently said KuCoin was serving local users without required approvals and had misrepresented its licensing status.
Taken together, the rulings underline rising global enforcement pressure on crypto platforms that operate cross-border services without local licenses or robust customer identification controls. For KuCoin and its parent, the CFTC settlement closes one chapter of U.S. exposure — but the injunction and other international actions mean the firm still faces constraints until it secures formal regulatory approvals.
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