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

Hong Kong has issued a warning about an unregulated crypto exchange called “Kucoin” that is reportedly demanding payments to recover money from frozen accounts.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has warned the public about alleged fraudulent activity being conducted through a crypto exchange falsely claiming to be regulated by the HKMA.

In a public notice published on Friday on the official website of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the HKMA found that digital currency platform “Kucoin” falsely claimed to be licensed by the HKMA and published documents purporting to be from the HKMA and “demanded payment” did. A fee is charged to retrieve the money from the frozen account.”

It remains unclear whether the HKMA’s warning is specifically directed at KuCoin, a crypto exchange that withdrew its application for a virtual asset trading platform (VATP) license in Hong Kong. As of the time the news was published, KuCoin has not made any public statement on the issue.

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

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

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