Attorney General Letitia James announced on Tuesday that her office has successfully obtained more than $22 million from the cryptocurrency trading platform, KuCoin, for illegal operations and failure to comply with state regulatory requirements. 

This settlement includes over $16.7 million in refunds to more than 150,000 affected New York investors and a $5.3 million penalty paid to the state.

KuCoin, based in Seychelles, was found to have operated without registering as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and misrepresented itself as a crypto exchange, both of which are against New York law. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) discovered that KuCoin was allowing New Yorkers to trade cryptocurrencies, including its own investment product “KuCoin Earn,” without the necessary state registration.

As a part of the consent order, KuCoin is mandated to refund a total of $16,766,642 to 177,800 New York investors. These investors can withdraw their assets directly from KuCoin over the next 90 days, with an option to file a claim for their cryptocurrency after this period through a designated email.

In addition to financial restitution, KuCoin is required to cease operations in New York, prevent access to their platform by New Yorkers and refrain from creating new accounts for New York residents. The company must also comply with U.S. law enforcement in freezing assets and responding to information requests.