Hong Kong’s HKMA warns public of unregulated ‘Kucoin’ crypto exchange

Hong Kong has issued a warning about an unregulated crypto exchange named “Kucoin,” which reportedly demands payments to recover money from frozen accounts.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has alerted the public to an allegedly fraudulent activity conducted via a crypto exchange falsely claiming to be regulated by the HKMA.

In a public warning published on the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s official website on Friday, the HKMA identified the digital currency platform “Kucoin” as falsely asserting it is licensed by the HKMA and issuing documents purportedly from the HKMA, “demanding payment of fees in order to recover money from frozen account.”

It remains unclear whether the HKMA’s warning is specifically addressed to KuCoin, a crypto exchange that recently withdrew its application for a virtual asset trading platform (VATP) license in Hong Kong. As of press time, KuCoin has made no public statements on the matter.

The HKMA has clarified that it has no connection with the crypto exchange and reiterated that it doesn’t contact individuals regarding personal financial matters.

In late March, the U.S. Department of Justice sued KuCoin for violations allegedly committed by the exchange and its founders, Chun Gan and Ke Tang, accusing the platform of breaking the Bank Secrecy Act and facilitating unlawful money transfers linked to laundering activity.

As crypto.news reported earlier, Gan and Tang are both Chinese citizens and remain at large. The charges could see the founders and other related parties face up to 10 years in prison. Following the lawsuit, customers withdrew over $350 million from the crypto exchange, though company officials assured customers of the safety of their assets.