The ruling said KuCoin could not treat unwithdrawn tokens as “abandoned,” and the investor says the exchange has yet to pay, setting up further legal action with wider implications for exchange custody practices.
A Seychelles court awarded a Swiss investor more than $2 million in a dispute with KuCoin, ruling that the exchange could not classify unwithdrawn tokens as “abandoned.” The investor says KuCoin still has not paid the award and that he plans to sue again, extending a case that now carries broader implications for how crypto exchanges manage customer assets left on their platforms. The ruling challenges a common operational assumption in crypto markets by reinforcing that assets held on an exchange may remain fully attributable to the customer even if they are not withdrawn, a point that could affect custody and asset-management practices beyond this case.