On-chain sleuth ZachXBT is once again highlighting injustice in the crypto industry. This time, he says KuCoin is pressuring a scam victim. We break down the details.
On-chain researcher ZachXBT has alleged that KuCoin sent legal warnings to a user who lost $250K to Atomic Stealer malware in August 2025. According to the detective, the stolen funds were laundered through KuCoin accounts registered with purchased KYC verification.
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KuCoin has not yet responded to ZachXBT’s allegations. Crypto Intel Labs noted that the claims have not been confirmed by court documents or an official exchange statement.
How the Laundering Allegedly Happened
According to ZachXBT, the stolen funds were transferred to five KuCoin deposit addresses. The accounts used for these transactions were reportedly registered using purchased fake KYC accounts.
“In recent months, I’ve repeatedly warned the community about issues with KuCoin,” ZachXBT wrote.
The researcher also claimed that the crypto exchange blocks legitimate users, is systematically used for money laundering, and is too slow to cooperate with law enforcement on victim cases.
Not KuCoin’s First Scandal of 2026
Just weeks before the latest allegations, on May 22, 2026, ZachXBT publicly accused KuCoin of facilitating money laundering. He said the exchange “knowingly allows illicit activity to pass through its platform for fees” and that German law enforcement cannot get responses from the exchange on active investigations.
In April 2026, ZachXBT documented a series of incidents: a fake Ledger Live app on the Mac App Store was used to steal roughly $9.5 million from more than 50 victims. The funds were quickly routed through more than 150 KuCoin deposit addresses and then into the AudiA6 crypto mixer.
American musician G. Love lost 5.9 BTC, about $420K, through the same scheme. The stolen bitcoins were sent to KuCoin deposit addresses in nine transactions.
A separate $3.5M theft from Bitcoin Depot was routed through more than 25 KuCoin addresses. In total, ZachXBT calculated, more than $13M in recently stolen funds passed through KuCoin in just a few weeks.
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