Dutch Central Bank Issues Warning Against KuCoin Over Unregistered Operations

De Nederlandsche Bank NV (DNB), the central bank of the Netherlands, has issued a warning against the prominent cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin for operating in the country without the required legal registration with the bank.

DNB Warns KuCoin Over Unregistered Operations

The bank said that without registering with them, the crypto exchange is not in compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act.

DNB added that KuCoin is “illegally offering services for the exchange between virtual and fiduciary currencies and it is illegally offering custodian wallets.”

The central bank noted that customers are not violating the law, but “this may increase the risk of customers becoming involved in money laundering or terrorist financing.”

The regulator also issued a similar warning to the largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance last year. Binance was later fined 3.325 million euros (approx. $3.37 million) for offering crypto services in the country without registering with the regulator. Binance later objected to the fine on June 2, 2022.

If KuCoin continues operating in the country without the regulator’s approval, it could also be slapped with financial penalties.

In May 2020, the regulator obligated crypto exchanges to register with them before offering services to investors in the country. 

Coinfomania reported in September that leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase registered with DNB as a cryptocurrency service provider, making it the first major global crypto platform to register with the regulator.

Crypto Exchanges Expand Across Europe

Meanwhile, the latest announcement comes at a time when several major crypto exchanges have been expanding across European markets. In September, crypto exchange CryptoCom announced it had been registered in France as a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).

A month later, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced it had received Class 3 registration as a Crypto Asset Services Provider (CASP) by Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).