KuCoin, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has agreed to cease operations in New York state and pay $22 million U.S. to settle a lawsuit brought by state officials.
New York has been trying to reign in the cryptocurrency market, and state Attorney General Letitia James sued KuCoin in March of this year, accusing the platform of failing to register before letting investors buy and sell crypto on its platform.
The legal settlement will see KuCoin stop trading securities and commodities in New York state and pay $22 million U.S. in restitution.
The settlement comes as U.S. regulators crackdown on what they perceive to be fraud and inadequate investor protections in the crypto sector.
In June, James’ office reached a $1.8 million U.S. settlement with Hong Kong-based crypto exchange CoinEx for operating illegally because it failed to register with the state.
Last month, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted on federal charges of stealing billions of dollars from that crypto exchange’s customers.
Rival crypto exchange Binance’s founder has pleaded guilty to breaking U.S. money laundering laws and is now awaiting sentencing.
KuCoin’s $22 million U.S. settlement includes a $5.3 million payment to the state and refunding $16.7 million U.S. worth of crypto to more than 175,000 New York investors.
Source: Prnewswire
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