A U.S. federal court has permanently barred Peken Global Limited, the operator of the KuCoin exchange, from serving U.S. users without proper registration. The order, part of a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), includes a $500,000 civil penalty. This follows a prior guilty plea by the exchange for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, which resulted in significant fines and a requirement to exit the U.S. market for at least two years.
A U.S. federal court has permanently barred Peken Global Limited, the operator of cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin, from allowing U.S. participants on its platform unless it registers as a foreign board of trade. The consent order also imposes a $500,000 civil monetary penalty against the entity.
The settlement resolves a CFTC lawsuit from March 2024 that alleged the exchange operated an unlicensed digital asset derivatives exchange. The agency has now dropped its claims against three other KuCoin-related entities originally named in the suit.
This civil action follows a parallel criminal case where Peken Global pleaded guilty in January 2025. According to the Department of Justice agreement, the plea included a $112.9 million criminal fine and $184.5 million in forfeiture. That agreement required KuCoin to exit the U.S. market for at least two years.
The CFTC noted it was not seeking disgorgement in the civil case, citing the company’s cooperation. This settlement follows the CFTC’s recent coordination pact with the Securities and Exchange Commission to align oversight of crypto markets.
