KuCoin Witnesses $1B In Withdrawals As Exchange Is Accused Of Money Laundering: 'SEC Trying To Protect Us From Making Money?' Questions Trader

Leading cryptocurrency exchange, KuCoin saw a massive $1 billion in crypto withdrawals over the past 24 hours, coinciding with a notable decrease in the exchange’s assets.

What Happened: Arkham Intelligence data highlighted KuCoin exchange balance at $4.7 billion, down from more than $6 billion the prior day. This decline was attributed to a substantial amount of assets being withdrawn by investors amid allegations of money laundering against the exchange by the U.S. Department of Justice.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated, "KuCoin allegedly deliberately chose not to implement even basic anti-money laundering policies."

The accused crypto exchange KuCoin witnessed around $1 billion in crypto withdrawals over the past 24 hours and assets under management plunged 20% amid the exchange facing charges from U.S. authorities, as reported by CoinDesk citing Nansen and Arkham Intelligence data.  

#KuCoin is operating well, and the assets of our users are absolutely safe. We are aware of the related reports and are currently investigating the details through our lawyers. KuCoin respect the laws and regulations of various countries and strictly adheres to compliance…

— KuCoin (@kucoincom) March 26, 2024

Amidst many loopholes in the functioning of cryptocurrency exchange, Benzinga’s Future of Digital Assets conference, scheduled for Nov. 19, will bring industry leaders and investors together to discuss the future of digital asset investments.

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Why It Matters: The U.S. Department of Justice noted KuCoin purposely failed to comply with anti-money laundering laws to grow its platform. The indictment further detailed KuCoin's alleged attempts to conceal its activities from U.S. regulators, including not requiring customer identification and falsely claiming to have no U.S. customers, said a Benzinga article.

A crypto trader, Doncrypto questioned, "What ever Kucoin did wrong? They even made it KYC mandatory to comply with regulations?”, adding “Why is SEC trying to protect us from making money?

Notable NFT and crypto expert, Foster Hilt tweeted about KuCoin joining the list of exchanges facing scrutiny, alongside Binance, Coinbase and Kraken. Hilt emphasized the current lack of regulatory clarity in the U.S. cryptocurrency landscape.  

Hilt’s tweet concluded with a reminder: “This is yet another reminder that regardless of how big or reputable an exchange appears to be, the best practice is to always self-custody your crypto.”

The allegations against KuCoin, especially in the lead-up to the Bitcoin halving event, have broader implications for the crypto market and its operations as a whole.

These topics are expected to be thoroughly explored at Benzinga’s upcoming Future of Digital Assets event on Nov. 19.

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