KuCoin Exits Russia and Belarus as EU Crypto Sanctions Tighten

KuCoin has stopped serving customers in Russia and Belarus, becoming the third major crypto exchange to announce restrictions in the region within two weeks.

KuCoin said the decision took effect immediately and covered every product. Affected customers will receive individual deadlines to close positions and withdraw funds.

The exchange cited “applicable legal and regulatory requirements,” without naming any new rule or regulator. Its earlier announcements, however, provide clues.

The Sanctions Trail Started Months Earlier

On July 23, the European Union adopted its 21st Russia sanctions package, banning transactions with 14 foreign crypto platforms and creating powers to restrict other overseas providers used to evade sanctions.

Weeks later, KuCoin began blocking direct and indirect transactions involving services including A7-linked entities, Rapira and HTX.

Its September 29 notice expanded the restricted-counterparty list and warned that even intermediary-wallet connections could trigger reviews or account limits.

That sequence makes sanctions exposure a strong possible explanation for the withdrawal. It does not establish that Brussels ordered KuCoin to leave.

KuCoin also has reasons to take European scrutiny seriously. Austria’s financial regulator restricted new business at its EU subsidiary in February over gaps in anti-money-laundering and sanctions-compliance appointments. 

It lifted that ban in May, while separate operational restrictions remained.

The retreat is spreading. Bitget restricted users in Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan after an October 16 terms update. MEXC announced its Russia-Belarus exit on October 20.

How Many KuCoin Users Could Be Affected?

KuCoin has published no country-level account numbers. But Semrush estimates Russia generated 1.03 million visits to KuCoin’s website in September, accounting for 3.93% of global visits and making Russia its third-largest traffic source.

KuCoin says it has more than 45 million global users. Applying Russia’s web-traffic share to that figure suggests roughly 1.77 million Russian registrations.

That is an illustrative estimate, not a verified affected-user count: visits are not unique people, mobile-app use is missing, and many registered accounts may be inactive. 

Belarus adds an unknown number. The number receiving closure notices could be much smaller.

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