KuCoin’s Austrian MiCA Licence: Has Vienna Just Whitewashed a Repeat Offender?

Charlene Lensburg
Tue, 02 Dec 2025 13:36:43 +0000
CASP, Crypto Compliance, FMA, MiCA, ticker, Christian Derler, Christian Niedermueller, KuCoin, KuCoin EU Capital Markets, KuCoin EU Exchange, KuCoin EU Financial Services, KuCoin EU Holding, KuCoin EU Payment Services, Lim Shu Ting, Oliver Stauber, Peken Global, Tamara Rubey

Seychelles-born, Hong Kong-owned, U.S.–sanctioned KuCoin has just won one of Europe’s most coveted trophies: a MiCA CASP licence from Austria’s FMA via KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH. This licence gives KuCoin passported access to (almost) the entire EEA – despite a fresh U.S. criminal guilty plea for unlicensed money transmission and serious AML failures.

Correction – February 5, 2026:
This article previously referred to Christian Derler as Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) of KuCoin EU and, in the summary table, listed him in a way that could be read as part of the managing-director line-up of KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH, the MiCA-licensed entity. In fact, Mr Derler is Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of KuCoin EU and, as of December 2025, managing director of KuCoin EU Financial Services GmbH and KuCoin EU Capital Markets GmbH. He has not served as managing director of KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH. The article text and table have been updated accordingly. The regulatory analysis and conclusions of the piece remain unchanged.

Seychelles-born, Hong Kong-owned, U.S.–sanctioned KuCoin has just won one of Europe’s most coveted trophies: a MiCA crypto-asset service provider (CASP) licence from Austria’s FMA via KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH. This licence gives KuCoin passported access to (almost) the entire EEA – despite a fresh U.S. criminal guilty plea for unlicensed money transmission and serious AML failures, a record fine in Canada, and a history of red-flag regulator warnings worldwide (Sources: KuCoin, Reuters, Reuters).

The “Austrianization” of KuCoin raises uncomfortable questions about MiCA’s fit-and-proper tests, the FMA’s risk appetite, and whether Vienna is becoming the rehab clinic for high-risk global crypto exchanges.

1. The Setup: MiCA Passport, Austrian Gateway

At the end of November 2025, KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH announced that it had obtained a Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) licence from the Austrian FMA. The licence allows KuCoin EU to offer MiCA-regulated services across 29 EEA countries (Malta excluded) via passporting (Source: Coindesk).

Austria is positioning itself aggressively as a MiCA hub. Alongside KuCoin, the FMA has now authorised Bitpanda, Bybit EU GmbH, AMINA (Austria) AG, Cryptonow and FIOR Digital as CASPs under MiCA (Source: LinkedIn). Only Bitpanda is genuinely Austrian; the others (including KuCoin) are foreign groups using Vienna as their EU beachhead.

Under MiCA, NCAs like the FMA must assess the “good repute” of CASP management and qualifying shareholders, including the absence of serious AML/CTF penalties, and ensure robust governance, capital and client-asset safeguards (Source: ESMA, A&O Sherman). Against this backdrop, KuCoin’s licence looks anything but routine.

Download the full KuCoin Compliance Report 2025 here.

2. The Austrian KuCoin Cluster: People & Structure

2.1 Corporate structure in Austria

According to Austrian company records and press releases, KuCoin has quietly built a mini-conglomerate in Vienna (Source: Northdata):

Coper Frontier Tech Holding Limited (Hong Kong)

Private company limited by shares, incorporated 29 May 2024 in Hong Kong (Source: Companies Register)

Acts as 100% shareholder of

KuCoin EU Holding GmbH, Vienna (Source: Companies Register).

Role: Austrian holding company.

Shareholder: Coper Frontier Tech Holding Ltd (Hong Kong).

Managing directors: Oliver Peter Stauber, Bochong (BC) Wang.

Subsidiaries of KuCoin EU Holding GmbH (all Vienna):

KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH – the MiCA-licensed CASP and European trading platform.

KuCoin EU Financial Services GmbH – described as providing “financial services,” likely B2B or ancillary activities.

KuCoin EU Payment Services GmbH – designed for payment-related services in the group.

KuCoin EU Capital Markets GmbH – corporate object explicitly includes “Ausgabe von Finanzderivaten” (issuance of financial derivatives), indicating ambitions beyond spot trading.

This is a fully-fledged European platform structure, not a minimal branch. It is built in just a few months (most entities founded or renamed in November 2025), clearly tailored for MiCA and possibly future MiFID-style activities.

2.2 Key people

From Austrian registers and KuCoin’s own communications:

Oliver Stauber – CEO of KuCoin EU; managing director of KuCoin EU Holding and several subsidiaries; Austrian lawyer, previously at Bitpanda and active in local crypto industry associations.

Christian Niedermüller – COO of KuCoin EU.

Christian Derler – Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and managing director of KuCoin EU Capital Markets GmbH. On his LinkedIn profile, Derler describes his role as Chief Commercial Officer at “KuCoin EU”, stating that he leads marketing, growth and HR, and that his focus is on “positioning KuCoin as a compliant and trusted player under MiCAR” and “driving regulatory alignment” across Europe. While this is not a formal compliance function or managing-director role at the MiCA-licensed KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH, it underlines that he is part of the front-line team shaping KuCoin’s regulatory positioning in the EU.

Tamara Rubey – General Counsel and managing director of KuCoin EU Payment Services GmbH.

Bochong (“BC”) Wang – CEO of the global KuCoin operator Peken Global Limited and managing director of KuCoin EU Holding GmbH. He signed the U.S. criminal plea on behalf of KuCoin’s Seychelles entity (Source: Whale Hunting).

In other words: the same top executive who admitted U.S. felony-level AML failures for KuCoin now co-controls the Austrian holding that owns the MiCA-licensed EU platform.

The ultimate beneficial owners behind Coper Frontier Tech Holding Limited are not publicly disclosed in the open Hong Kong registry sources used here, meaning EU investors and counterparties cannot easily verify who ultimately controls the Austrian KuCoin cluster (Source: 996co).

3. KuCoin’s Track Record: Warnings, Charges, Guilty Pleas

3.1 Global regulatory warnings

KuCoin has long been on regulators’ radar:

Spain – CNMV issued a public warning in 2022 against KuCoin (Mek Global Limited / kucoin.com) for operating without registration (Source: CNMV)

Netherlands – DNB warned in 2022 that KuCoin was operating without mandatory AML registration and “illegally offering services” (Source: Wikipedia)

UK – FCA added KuCoin/kucoin.com to its warning list of unauthorised firms in October 2023 (Source: FCA).

Canada – OSC (Ontario Securities Commission) warned investors that KuCoin and related entities were not registered to trade securities (Source: TheBlock).

FinTelegram has previously summarised these warnings and KuCoin’s poor Trustpilot ratings in earlier reports.

Read our KuCoin reports here.

3.2 U.S. criminal case & CFTC action

In March 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (SDNY) unsealed an indictment against KuCoin and founders Chun Gan and Ke Tang for conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act and operate an unlicensed money transmitting business (Source: US DOJ).

Parallelly, the CFTC filed a civil complaint alleging KuCoin (Source: CFTC):

ran an unregistered futures commission merchant,

offered off-exchange leveraged crypto transactions and swaps to U.S. retail,

failed to implement an effective Customer Identification Program (CIP) and AML measures,

allowed up to 50% of customers to be U.S. residents despite geoblocking claims.

3.3 Guilty plea and $297m settlement

On 27 January 2025, KuCoin’s Seychelles entity Peken Global Limited pleaded guilty in SDNY to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and agreed to pay over $297m in fines and forfeiture. Prosecutors highlighted that KuCoin:

failed to implement KYC and AML controls,

did not file suspicious activity reports,

facilitated billions of dollars in suspicious transactions linked to darknet markets, ransomware, and fraud,

earned at least $184.5m in fees from U.S. users alone.

As part of the plea, KuCoin must exit the U.S. market for at least two years, and founders Gan and Tang entered deferred prosecution agreements and stepped away from management (Source: Reuters).

The plea agreement names Bochong Wang as the CEO authorised to bind Peken Global to the guilty plea – the same Wang who is now a managing director of KuCoin’s Austrian holding company. Whale Hunting+1

3.4 Canadian AML penalty

In September 2025, Canada’s AML agency FINTRAC imposed a C$19.6m penalty on Peken Global Limited, the KuCoin operator, for failing to report suspicious transactions and large virtual currency receipts, describing this as its largest fine to date – before an even larger penalty against another crypto dealer in October. KuCoin has reportedly appealed the FINTRAC decision.

4. MiCA vs. KuCoin: Fit & Proper or Regulatory Arbitrage?

MiCA’s CASP regime is explicit: NCAs must assess the good repute of management and qualifying shareholders, including absence of serious penalties for AML/CTF and fraud, and ensure sound governance, capital and client-asset protections (Source: Ramparts).

Yet Austria has now authorised, as a MiCA CASP:

a group whose core operating entity (Peken Global) has just pleaded guilty in the U.S. to unlicensed money transmission and systemic AML failures,

whose CEO, Bochong Wang, personally signed that plea and simultaneously manages the Austrian holding,

whose operator has been hit with a record AML fine in Canada,

which has accumulated a long list of regulatory warnings across major jurisdictions.

At the same time, EU regulators are openly worried about a “race to the bottom” in MiCA licensing. Reuters reported that some large crypto companies were poised to obtain EU-wide licences amid concerns that certain NCAs are too lenient; France has even floated the idea of blocking passporting for firms approved in “soft” jurisdictions (Source: Reuters).

Against this backdrop, KuCoin’s Austrian MiCA licence looks less like a triumph of “trust and compliance” and more like a test case for regulatory arbitrage:

1. Reputation & conduct risk – A MiCA-licensed CASP with fresh U.S. felony-level AML failings and Canadian AML penalties is, by definition, a high-risk counterparty. The FMA must have concluded that its remediation and new EU governance outweigh the history – a judgement that deserves scrutiny.

2. Fit & proper of key managers – Even if Wang is not personally convicted, MiCA and ESMA guidance push NCAs to evaluate collective responsibility and track record of management. Putting the CEO of the guilty entity at the top of the EU holding raises serious questions about the practical application of “good repute”.

3. Opaque ultimate ownership – With Coper Frontier Tech Holding Ltd as a recently-incorporated Hong Kong shareholder and no easily discoverable beneficial ownership data, MiCA supervisors must rely heavily on confidential filings. From an external perspective, UBO transparency remains poor.

4. Group complexity & risk migration – The additional Austrian entities for financial services, payment services and capital markets indicate a platform strategy that could extend into derivatives and structured products. Given KuCoin’s U.S. history with unregistered derivatives, this is a segment where EU NCAs cannot afford a repeat of the “offshore shadow-exchange” model under a MiCA label.

5. MiCA as a badge – or smokescreen? – KuCoin’s blog and PR materials lean heavily on MiCA as evidence of “top-tier compliance” and “trust architecture,” listing SOC2/ISO certifications and PoR audits. But certifications and buzzwords do not erase years of documented AML lapses; they simply make it easier to market a high-risk exchange to EU retail.

For Austria, the reputational question is straightforward: Is the FMA building a European compliance fortress – or a comfortable harbour for globally challenged exchanges looking for a second chance?

5. Summary Table – KuCoin Group & Austrian Structure

Brand / Domain | Legal Entity (key) | Role / Function | Key People (selected) as of Dec 2025 | Jurisdiction | Regulatory / Enforcement Notes
KuCoin / kucoin.com | Peken Global Ltd (operator), plus Mek Global Ltd, PhoenixFin Pte Ltd, Flashdot Ltd cftc.gov+1 | Global exchange, spot & derivatives | Founders Chun Gan, Ke Tang; CEO Bochong (BC) Wang | Seychelles, Singapore, etc. | U.S. DOJ indictment (BSA & unlicensed MSB); CFTC complaint (unregistered FCM, AML failures); U.S. guilty plea & $297m penalty; U.S. market exit ≥2 years.

KuCoin EU

KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH

MiCA-licensed CASP (EU trading & custody)

Oliver Stauber (CEO), Christian Niedermüller (COO),
Lim Shu Ting

Austria

MiCA licence from FMA; passporting across 29 EEA states (ex Malta).

– | KuCoin EU Holding GmbH | Austrian holding for all EU subs | Oliver Stauber, BC Wang (MDs) | Austria | 100% owned by Coper Frontier Tech Holding Ltd (Hong Kong).
– | KuCoin EU Financial Services GmbH | Financial / ancillary services | MD: Oliver Stauber, Christian Derler (CCO) | Austria | Newly structured in late 2025; potential B2B and structured offerings.
– | KuCoin EU Payment Services GmbH | Payments and fiat on/off-ramp services | MD: Tamara Rubey (GC of KuCoin EU) | Austria | Potentially subject to PSD2-like oversight if applying for payment licence in future.
– | KuCoin EU Capital Markets GmbH | Derivatives / capital markets (“Ausgabe von Finanzderivaten”) | MDs: Oliver Stauber, Christian Derler | Austria | Suggests ambitions to issue or distribute structured crypto-linked products in EU.
Coper Frientier Tech Holding | Coper Frientier Tech Holding Ltd | Parent company of KuCoin EU Holding GmbH | – | Hong Kong | Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs) unknown

6. Conclusion & Call for Information (Whistle42)

From a MiCA perspective, KuCoin EU’s Austrian licence is a stress test:

Can a CASP whose core operator just pleaded guilty in the U.S. and was fined in Canada credibly pass Europe’s fit-and-proper and good-repute tests within months?

Does the use of a fresh Hong Kong holding company as shareholder, combined with a large Austrian entity cluster, increase transparency – or obscure accountability?

And what exactly convinced the FMA that KuCoin’s remediation is sufficient to protect EU retail and professional clients from a repeat of its U.S.-style AML failures?

FinTelegram will continue to map KuCoin’s global corporate ecosystem and its interactions with regulators worldwide.

Call for Information:

We explicitly invite insiders, current or former employees, compliance officers, partners, and affected clients of KuCoin, KuCoin EU, Coper Frontier Tech Holding Ltd, or any related payment/derivatives entities to share information with us.

If you have documents, internal communications, or first-hand knowledge about:

KuCoin’s AML/KYC practices and remediation programmes,

the true beneficial owners behind Coper Frontier Tech Holding Limited,

the planned activities of KuCoin EU Financial Services, Payment Services, or Capital Markets GmbH,

or the internal process behind obtaining the MiCA licence in Austria,

please contact FinTelegram confidentially via our whistleblower platform, Whistle42.

Share Information via Whistle42

Your information can help regulators, law-abiding market participants, and investors understand whether MiCA is truly raising the bar – or simply putting a new label on old risks.