Altcoin
KuCoin’s ‘safe’ bet: Will an airdrop shift user PoV?
Can a $10 million airdrop change the trajectory of KuCoin’s ongoing legal battle?
- KuCoin and its founders were found guilty of breaching U.S. federal laws.
- The exchange plans to host an airdrop event to calm investors.
In a recent turn of events, U.S. prosecutors have accused KuCoin and its founders of allegedly breaching anti-money laundering laws. The charges involve two of KuCoin’s founders, Chun Gan and Ke Tang, violating the Bank Secrecy Act and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
Separately, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also filed a case against KuCoin for breaching the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations.
In response to this, the exchange swiftly moved to reassure users about the safety of their assets.
“KuCoin is operating well, and the assets of our users are absolutely safe. We are aware of the related reports and are currently investigating the details through our lawyers. KuCoin respect the laws and regulations of various countries and strictly adheres to compliance standards.”
Despite the reassurance, the value of KuCoin’s native token KCS seems to have taken a downturn currently trading at $12.21 after a 17.26% drop in the past week.
The reassurance airdrop
Within a day of the allegations, KuCoin CEO Johnny Lyu announced on the 27th of March exchange’s blog, that the exchange plans to host an airdrop event. This initiative will distribute Bitcoin and the platform’s native token, KuCoin (KCS), with a combined value of $10 million.
In response to investor concerns stemming from the Confido rug pull incident, Lyu emphasized that the airdrop serves as a token of gratitude for loyal customers.
“Recently, on March 26th and 27th, some users experienced longer-than-expected wait times during the withdrawal process. […] To express our profound gratitude for your support and patience KuCoin will launch a special airdrop event totaling 10 million USD in KCS and BTC.”
The SEC also emphasized that while airdrops offer appealing token distribution opportunities, they also come with regulatory risks.
