Crypto exchange KuCoin appeals $14 million penalty from Canadian regulator over AML violations

Canada's financial intelligence regulator has imposed a C$19.5 million ($14.1 million) administrative monetary penalty on crypto exchange KuCoin for failing to comply with the country's anti-money laundering and terrorist financing laws. 

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) announced on Thursday the penalty imposed against Peken Global Ltd., KuCoin's operating entity, on July 28, 2025. 

Specifically, the regulator found that the firm failed to register in Canada as a foreign money services business, neglected to report large cryptocurrency transactions exceeding C$10,000, and did not file suspicious transaction reports.

KuCoin swiftly challenged the penalty, stating that it had filed an appeal with the Federal Court of Canada. In a statement released on Thursday, KuCoin said that it "respects the decision-making process and remains committed to regulatory compliance and transparency," but disputed FINTRAC's classification of KuCoin as a foreign money services business and called the penalty "excessive and punitive."

"We disagree with this decision on both substantive and procedural grounds, and we have pursued legal avenues by submitting an appeal before the Federal Court of Canada to ensure a fair outcome for KuCoin," KuCoin CEO BC Wong said in a post on X.

The price of KuCoin token (KCS) slipped 0.7% in the past 24 hours to $15.12 as of 2:00 a.m. ET Friday, according to The Block's price page. It has a market capitalization of $1.9 billion.

In August, KuCoin's exchange volume amounted to $53.6 billion, up from $49.9 billion in July, The Block's data dashboard shows. However, that figure is dwarfed by Binance's August volume of $737.1 billion and Bybit's $126.5 billion.