Dubai’s digital assets regulator said cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin was operating without necessary regulatory approvals and licenses and must stop serving customers in the region.
“Kucoin does not hold any license to provide virtual asset services in/from Dubai. Any virtual asset-related activity announced or conducted by this company is therefore in violation of VARA regulations,” the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) said in a statement.
“Any promotion, advertising or solicitation related to Kucoin has not been approved by VARA, and the Company is therefore not authorized to offer, promote or market any virtual asset products or services in Dubai or its residents,” the regulator added, advising consumers and investors in Dubai to avoid engaging with Kucoin.
The alert comes just weeks after the Austrian financial regulator banned KuCoin’s European arm from conducting new business and onboarding customers due to a lack of appropriate compliance staff.
A few months earlier, the Austrian financial regulator, FMA, granted KuCoin a crypto asset market (MiCA) permit to operate across the European Union.
KuCoin, a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange founded in China in 2017, is now one of the largest offshore cryptocurrency platforms, ranked in the top 10 by trading volume.
