Dutch central bank warns KuCoin for operating in the Netherlands without licence

De Nederlandsche Bank NV (DNB), the central bank of the Netherlands, announced on Thursday, December 15, that it has issued a warning to MEK Global Limited, doing business as KuCoin, for operating in the Netherlands without required legal registration.

“This means MGL is not in compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act and is illegally offering services for the exchange between virtual and fiduciary currencies, and it is illegally offering custodian wallets,” says DNB. 

The Dutch central bank also clarified that customers of MGL are not in violation. However, it may increase the risk of customers becoming involved in money laundering or terrorist financing, adds the bank. 

DNB didn’t mention the consequences if KuCoin continues its operation without a licence. 

“As a global exchange, KuCoin pays close attention to the latest regulations all around the world, we respect laws and regulations of other jurisdictions,” says a KuCoin spokesperson to Coindesk. “However, KuCoin is not a Dutch entity and does not have an office in the Netherlands.”

The announcement comes as the crypto market is witnessing a drastic fall in currency and trust. 

A few days back, Maple Finance, a DeFi lending platform, announced that it has cut ties with the cryptocurrency trading platform Orthogonal Trading due to misrepresenting its financial position.

A couple of weeks back, BlockFi filed for bankruptcy, citing significant FTX exposure.

Last month, FTX, the world’s second-biggest cryptocurrency exchange, filed for bankruptcy.  

KuCoin: What you need to know

Founded in September 2017, KuCoin is a global cryptocurrency exchange with its operational headquarters in Seychelles. 

The platform offers over 700 digital assets and provides spot trading, margin trading, P2P fiat trading, futures trading, staking, and lending.

The cryptocurrency exchange has 20M users in 207 countries and regions. 

In 2022, KuCoin raised over $150M in investments through a pre-Series B round, bringing total investment to $170M at a total valuation of $10 billion