- KuCoin immediately ended all products and services for customers in Russia and Belarus on October 29, 2026, citing compliance with legal and regulatory requirements
- Customers will be notified of deadlines for closing open positions and completing withdrawals; KuCoin has not disclosed how many users in those countries are affected
- MEXC stopped serving Russian and Belarusian users on October 20, and Bitget made a similar announcement in the same period; Binance exited Russia in 2023 by selling operations to CommEX, which shut down within six months
- KuCoin’s past compliance actions include a $300 million US plea deal in January 2025 for running an unlicensed money-transmitting business and a CFTC order in March 2026 barring it from serving US customers
Immediate Effect For Russian & Belarusian Users
KuCoin announced on October 29, 2026 that it is immediately ending all products and services for customers in Russia and Belarus. The shutdown covers the exchange’s full range of offerings. Customers will be contacted separately with deadlines for closing open positions and completing withdrawals. KuCoin has not disclosed how many users in those countries are affected.
Compliance Driver & Sanctions Context
The withdrawal was made due to compliance with laws and regulations; however, there were no sanctions specified. Since the invasion of Russia into Ukraine in February 2022, many sanctions have been placed against Russian finance entities and transactions by Western countries.
🌍 @kucoincom is ending services in Russia and Belarus, effective immediately.
Affected users will receive account-specific deadlines to close positions and withdraw assets.
What the announcement means:
https://t.co/F8RNqTI54B— Blockster (@BlocksterCom) October 29, 2026
In July 2026, the European Union made sanctions against the cryptocurrency network, A7, which is worth about $120 billion. One of the most extensive sanction actions against cryptocurrencies ever in the history of EU.
There are some compliance problems that have been found with KuCoin; it had entered into a US $300 million plea agreement in January 2025 for being unlicensed money transmitting business and in March 2026, it was banned by the CFTC from servicing US clients.
A Growing Trend Among Exchanges
KuCoin is not the first exchange to exit Russia and Belarus this month. MEXC stopped serving users in both countries on October 20, and Bitget made a similar announcement in the same period. Binance departed Russia in 2023 by selling its Russian operations to CommEX, which shut down approximately six months later.
The wave of exits reflects a tightening compliance environment, with regulated and semi-regulated exchanges accelerating their withdrawal from markets that Western governments have designated as high-risk.
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