KuCoin Exchange to incentivize customers with $10 million airdrop amid DoJ, CFTC-related lawsuit
- KuCoin CEO announces $10 million airdrop worth of KCS and BTC in appreciation of community support.
- Exchange faced regulatory troubles after DoJ, CFTC, and HSI called it out for violating AML laws.
- Rules for the airdrop will be released in three days, but KuCoin token KCS remains down 5%.
In a Tuesday announcement, the US Department of Justice (DoJ), in collaboration with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), levied charges against KuCoin Exchange and two of its founders, Chun Gan (Michael) and Ke Tang (Eric).
Charges concern the violation of US Anti-Money Laundering Laws in their efforts to grow KuCoin into one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, servicing over 30 million customers.
KuCoin CEO plans $10 million airdrop
As reported, the news had spelt fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) among KuCoin customers, who fled to avoid exposure in case the worst happened. After the Terraform Labs and FTX debacles, ‘better safe than sorry’ became the way to go. Consequently, the platform witnessed over $1 billion in outflows on Wednesday as retail took out their holdings.
KuCoin news was just more FUD in this cycle; anyone who is a serious investor in #Bitcoin is not transacting with that exchange. $10M+ transactions are internal; most withdrawals were retail. pic.twitter.com/9RprQdMNY3
— James Van Straten (@jvs_btc) March 27, 2024
Amid massive withdrawal transactions, customers experienced delays, which worsened the situation, prompting the exchange to announce the safety of funds.
Read full report here: Kucoin sees massive withdrawals after indictment by the US Justice Department
To soothe customers after hours of fear and anxiety, KuCoin Exchange CEO Johnny Lyu has announced a $10 million airdrop as an incentive for users and supporters, with rules to be communicated in three days.
Our CEO @lyu_johnny wrote a letter to the #KuCoin community, addressing the recent challenge and expressing gratitude with a $10M giveaway for the unwavering support from all of you.
— KuCoin (@kucoincom) March 27, 2024
Read the full letter ⬇️
According to the Wednesday blog, the giveaway appreciates the years of support that community members have accorded to the platform. Notably, this is not the first time the exchange is attempting to soothe community members after a negative issue.
In October 2017, the delisting of the CFD project also sparked negative sentiment, causing the introduction of the proactive compensation program, which earned KuCoin the reputation of being the "People's Exchange." The airdrop borrowed from this leaf totalled 10 million USD in KCS and BTC.
Bearing in mind the security issues relating to airdrops, Lyu has urged community members to be aware of any form of scams. Notably, bad actors tend to put up misleading links to defraud unsuspecting customers.
Meanwhile, the KuCoin token (KCS) price has yet to recover from the crash and went down around 5% on the last day.
KCS/USDT 1-day chart
Author
Lockridge Okoth
FXStreet
Lockridge is a believer in the transformative power of crypto and the blockchain industry.
