Overview
- KuCoin announced on Oct. 29 that it has stopped offering all products and services to customers located in Russia and Belarus and will require affected users to close positions and withdraw assets.
- The exchange will notify each affected account with bespoke deadlines and instructions rather than publishing a single withdrawal timetable, creating a risk that some users may miss deadlines or face forced liquidations.
- KuCoin said the action was taken because of “applicable legal and regulatory requirements” but did not identify a specific law, regulator, or sanctions order that triggered the exit.
- The move follows similar October steps by Bitget and MEXC and comes after the EU expanded crypto-related sanctions on July 23, increasing compliance costs for centralized exchanges operating across borders.
- KuCoin is a large global platform with roughly 45 million users and about $1.2 billion in daily volume, it has prior U.S. enforcement history, and the firm warned customers to use only official channels and to watch for phishing during the offboarding process.