KuCoin review: licences, fees, USDT networks and P2P

Overview

KuCoin is a crypto exchange whose roadmap dates the official launch of its trading platform to the third quarter of 2017. Its global terms of use describe www.kucoin.com as an “information intermediary service Platform” governed by the laws of the Turks and Caicos Islands, but they do not name the company that runs it or any licence. We checked all facts on 18 October 2026.

Licences and registrations

• KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH (Vienna): a crypto-asset service provider under MiCA for residents of the European Economic Area except Malta, supervised by Austria’s Financial Market Authority (FMA). The FMA company database lists it as a crypto-asset service provider; neither page shows a licence number.
• Axis One Markets Pty Ltd: runs KuCoin’s service for Australian users and is registered with AUSTRAC as a digital currency exchange (DCE-100844683-001), a registration rather than a licence.
• KuCoin’s about page also mentions a Thai SEC licence and Indian FIU compliance, without naming the companies or numbers.

Readers in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America use the global platform, for which KuCoin names no licensed company. Residents of Brazil have separate terms with KuCoin Brasil Sociedade Prestadora de Serviços de Ativos Virtuais Ltda. A search for “KuCoin” in Argentina’s register of virtual asset service providers returned no result.

Regulator warning

On 13 July 2022 the Ontario Securities Commission published an investor warning saying that Kucoin, Mek Global Limited and Phoenixfin Pte. Ltd. are not registered in Ontario to trade securities, and naming Peken Global Limited as the owner and operator of Kucoin. Because of this warning we mark KuCoin “watch”: check its current situation before you use it.

KuCoin’s terms exclude the United States and its territories, Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, France, the Netherlands, the Canadian provinces of Ontario and British Columbia, and the Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine.

Trading fees

At the base level (VIP 0), spot trades in “Class A” coins such as BTC, ETH, USDT and USDC cost 0.1% for makers and takers; Class B coins cost 0.2% and Class C coins 0.3%. KuCoin notes that actual fees may vary for certain coins. Futures start at 0.02% maker and 0.06% taker.

USDT withdrawals

KuCoin’s fee page shows a fee and a minimum per network: TRC-20 1.99 USDT (minimum 4 USDT), BEP-20 1 USDT (minimum 10 USDT), Solana 1.5 USDT, TON 0.5 USDT, Polygon 0.8 USDT, and 1 USDT on Optimism, Arbitrum and Avalanche. On ERC-20 the fee is 5.5 USDT plus 0.2% of the amount, with a 30 USDT minimum.

P2P and local currencies

KuCoin’s P2P market lets you buy and sell with verified merchants, who set their own payment methods. Its currency list has 67 fiat currencies, among them GHS, KES, TZS, ZMW, XOF, MAD, EGP and ZAR in Africa; AED, SAR, QAR and KWD in the Gulf; and ARS, BRL, MXN, COP, CLP and PEN in Latin America. NGN is not in the list. The buy page also mentions cards, bank transfers and third-party providers (Banxa, Simplex, BTC Direct, Onramp), without fees or countries.

Futures, earn and reserves

KuCoin lists 702 tradable futures contracts; the pages we checked state no maximum leverage. Leveraged futures can wipe out your margin quickly. KuCoin Earn offers Simple Earn and other products; the crypto you commit can fall in value. KuCoin publishes a proof-of-reserves page: on data of 30 September 2026 it showed reserve ratios of 109% for BTC, 117% for ETH, 110% for USDT and 127% for USDC.

What we could not confirm

The company that runs the global platform and any licence for it, a founding date, a head office and the maximum futures leverage. We have not tested KuCoin with our own account yet; this review will be updated when we do.