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The KuCoin Token price tanked 15% to trade for $12.242 as of 07:40 a.m. EST time.
Trading volume skyrocketed 317% as KCS token holders de-risk from the KuCoin market. It comes after an announcement from the US Department of Justice (DoJ) that it is charging the platform with violating anti-money laundering laws.
USDOJ: Prominent Global Cryptocurrency Exchange KuCoin And Two Of Its Founders Criminally Charged With Bank Secrecy Act And Unlicensed Money Transmission Offenseshttps://t.co/cbmj4chzG7
— Tree News (@News_Of_Alpha) March 26, 2024
KuCoin Exchange And Founders Accused Of Flaunting AML Laws
Chun Gan (Michael) and Ke Tang (Eric), the named founders, who are both of Chinese origin, aided in the violation of the US Anti-Money Laundering Laws, the charge notes. “Gan, Tang, and KuCoin were aware of their U.S. AML obligations,” said the report, adding that they “willfully chose to flout those requirements.”
It came as they tried to grow KuCoin into becoming one of world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Notably, the trading platform now serves more than 30 million customers. The DoJ alleges that the accused:
- Did not maintain an adequate AML program designed to prevent KuCoin from being used for money laundering and terrorist financing.
- Did not maintain reasonable procedures for verifying the identity of customers
- Did not file any suspicious activity reports
- Did not register with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a futures commission merchant
- Did not register with FinCEN as a money-transmitting business up to at least the end of 2023
- Did not try to conceal the existence of KuCoin’s US customers in order to make it appear as if KuCoin was exempt from US AML and KYC requirements
Further in the report, the DoJ highlights that since its inception in 2017, KuCoin Exchange customers were not required to provide any identifying information. In July 2023, the exchange was informed that there was a federal criminal investigation into its activities. Spooked, the exchange introduced the identifying information requirements for its clients. However, the feature was only applicable to new customers. Its existing customers still did not need to provide KYC requirements.
KuCoin Accused Of Being A Vehicle For Laundering Criminal Proceeds
According to the DoJ, this loophole allowed the KuCoin Exchange to become a vehicle for laundering large sums of criminal funds. Among the criminal activities cited, include moving proceeds from darknet markets and malware, ransomware and fraud schemes.
These activities, according to the DoJ, saw KuCoin receive upwards of $5 billion and send more than $4 billion, of suspicious and criminal proceeds in its seven years of operation. The authority also highlighted that most of the platform’s clientele was only drawn to its anonymity of service feature.
KuCoin Price Prediction As Exchange Faces Charges Of Violating AML Rules
The KuCoin Token price is trading with a bearish bias, which is expected as investors flee from exposure to the platform. In the past, native tokens for similar ecosystems have crashed in the aftermath of legal charges levied against respective executives or their platforms. Case in point, when the Terraform Labs ecosystem crashed, the Terra UST stablecoin crumbled. When the FTX platform imploded, FTT crashed, with customers losing millions of dollars.
In the aftermath of the charges, the trading platform has witnessed massive withdrawals. SpotOnChain reports around $500 million in withdrawals so far. This is so much so that there are withdrawal delays, the exchange confirmed.
~$500M has been withdrawn from the Kucoin exchange on the Ethereum network in the past hours after the US Government indicted KuCoin on Criminal Charges.
The top withdrawing:
~274M $USDT
~15.5K $ETH (~$55M)
~50M $ONDO (~$46M)
~12M $FET (~$34M)
~95.38M $GHX (~$21.8M)More… pic.twitter.com/6gQW0ybnZB
— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) March 27, 2024
As traders exit, the KuCoin token price has descended below support offered by the 50% Fibonacci placeholder at $12.431. KCS price has also slipped below support due to the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) at $12.417.
The market is leaning in favor of the downside and the KuCoin token price could extend the fall to the 100-day SMA at $11.287.
Multiple technical indicators support the case to the downside, starting with the Relative Strength Index (RSI). This momentum indicator is nose-diving, showing falling momentum. The histograms of both the Awesome Oscillator (AO) and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) are also flashing red, evidence of growing bearish sentiment. This is accentuated not only by the negative position of the MACD histograms, but also the fact that it is moving below the orange band of its signal line.
In a dire case, the KuCoin token price could roll over to the foot of market range at $8.905. This would constitute a fall of around 25% below current levels.
TradingView: KCS/USDT 1-day chart
Converse Case
On the other hand, should the bulls seize the opportunity to buy the correction, the KuCoin price could pull back. A decisive candlestick close above the $14.000 threshold would open the way for an extension to the peak of the market range at $15.957.
As investors exit the KCS market, consider moving your holdings into SMOG, a Solana-based project that analysts say still has the potential for another 1000X gains.
Promising Alternative To KuCoin Token
Smog is a Solana-based meme coin with a distinct flaming dragon theme. It fought for and earned its space on Solana, gaining significant traction and attention despite fierce competition from its sector peers.
Within a month, the community rapidly adopted the token, leading to a substantial increase in its value. This had analysts saying it could be the king of Solana meme coins.
Smog’s reputational success is ascribed to two key factors: a unique, multi-chain strategy and widespread airdrops.
🪂 Biggest AIRDROP in $SMOG history 🐲
Only 7 days left until the end of the #SMOG Season 1 #Airdrop! ⏰🔥
The countdown continues! Ensure you don't miss out! 🚀💸Hop aboard zealy, complete your quests, and level up your XP! 🪂🎮
🔗LINK:➡️ https://t.co/uiTBaacYOE pic.twitter.com/l2farq9dB9
— Omar27 || $ISLM_MAXI 💚🌙💎.NYAN🔫😼| PIXIZ 🍌 (@Omartanu27) March 27, 2024
Smog’s initial launch on the Solana blockchain was followed by a strategic expansion to the Ethereum network, broadening its reach.
Airdrops, facilitated by the Zealy platform, incentivize users by rewarding them with SMOG tokens for acquiring and holding the token, as well as for engaging in designated social media activities.
To qualify for the airdrop, SMOG token holders must actively engage in tasks managed by Zealy. To this end, the project has allocated 35% of the total token supply of 1.4 billion. The first part of the airdrop that ends on April 3 is understood to include about $1 million in giveaways.
🔥🐉 HUGE AIRDROP ANNOUNCEMENT 🐉🔥
Season 1 of $SMOG airdrop will end on April 3rd 👀
Season 2 starts NOW! #SmogSwap will be more weighted to buying and holding $SMOG 💸
Complete @zealy_io quests to take part! 📢https://t.co/JTtFnpOgL1 pic.twitter.com/xFhJr5f9KT
— Almighty (@Almighty_Gives) March 18, 2024
Smog also offers investors the opportunity to stake tokens for a 42% Annual Percentage Yields (APY). So far, over 25 million SMOG tokens have been staked.
Also Read:
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- $SMOG Meme Coin 10x Growth Potential – How to Buy, Stake for High Rewards, and Price Prediction
- Best Meme Coins to Invest in: Top Picks for Exponential Gains!
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