Crypto exchange KuCoin to make KYC compulsory for all users from July 15

The users will also not be able to deposit more money for investment in their wallets but the withdrawals will remain unaffected

Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin on Wednesday announced that it will make Know Your Customer (KYC) authentication mandatory for all users on its platform on July 15. This, according to the company, will be in line with global compliance norms.

According to the announcement, all the users who register on the platform on or after July 15 will mandatorily need to go through KYC authentication to get access to all products and services.

For the users who register before July 15, the failure to comply with the KYC process will restrict their access to "certain features". These features will include spot trading sell orders, futures trading deleveraging, margin trading deleveraging, KuCoin Earn redemption, and ETF redemption.

The users will also not be able to deposit more money for investment in their wallets. The withdrawals, however, will remain unaffected.

"With the development of the cryptocurrency industry, crypto has gradually moved from a geek towards mass adoption. However, this process has also brought about certain security issues concerning on-chain assets," said Johnny Lyu, chief executive officer at KuCoin.  

"In light of this, KuCoin has strengthened our KYC system to comply with regulatory requirements worldwide and better protect the asset security of all cryptocurrency users through enhanced KYC rules."

The new rule is expected to affect many crypto investors as KuCoin has over 20 million registered accounts, as of July 2022.

Several crypto exchanges have been stepping up their KYC requirements. In April, Dubai-based crypto exchange Bybit announced that it would make KYC verification necessary for all users from May. The non-verified users, according to the company, were disallowed from trading on the platform from May 8.  

Earlier, in March this year, the finance ministry notified that the entities dealing in virtual digital assets will be considered "reporting entities" under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Under the rules, reporting entities are required to maintain KYC records of their clients.