Reliability Score · methodology v1.0 · updated 2026-10-04
KuCoin: 74/100
Score over time
73 – 74 across 324 daily readings since 2026-06-23. The burgundy point is today.
Score breakdown
Withdrawal reliability weight 25%
96
Why 96 · 2 sources
1 recorded withdrawal incident within the 24-month window, weighted by severity and recency.
Proof of reserves weight 20%
70
Why 70 · 1 source
Merkle-tree PoR with third-party involvement and stated 1:1 backing (snapshot as of 2026-02-28 at verification); exact cadence unverified.
Regulatory standing weight 20%
55
Why 55 · 2 sources
MiCAR CASP licence (Austria FMA, decision 2025-11-27; Vienna EU entity serving 29 EEA markets, launched Jan 2026). Heavy recent enforcement: US DOJ guilty plea ~$297M with a >=2-year US market exit (Jan 2025); Canada FINTRAC penalty C$19.6M (2025, under appeal); CFTC settlement permanently barring the operator from US customers (reported Mar 2026).
Security history weight 15%
100
Why 100
No recorded security incidents within the 24-month decay window.
Support quality weight 10%
28
Why 28 · 1 source
Trustpilot suspended the rating after removing fake reviews and issuing a guidelines-breach notice; ~74% one-star among remaining reviews (2026 third-party check). Conservatively scored.
Operational maturity weight 10%
68
Why 68 · 1 source
Founded 2017; top-15 spot volume; Seychelles operator entities with a new Vienna EU entity. The 2020 hot-wallet hack (~$281M, outside the decay window) ended with users made whole via recovery + insurance fund.
Incident timeline · facts with dates
2025-04-15
Withdrawal · sev 1
What happened · sourced
Service disruption incl. withdrawals during the AWS outage of 2025-04-15; restored within hours.
source2025-01-27
Regulatory · sev 4
What happened · sourced
US DOJ guilty plea with ~$297M in penalties and a >=2-year exit from the US market (2025-01-27); founders left management. Canada FINTRAC later imposed its largest-ever penalty, C$19.6M (2025, under appeal).
source2024-03-26
Withdrawal · sev 2
What happened · sourced
After US DOJ/CFTC charges (2024-03-26), heavy outflows were accompanied by user-reported withdrawal delays; no official halt was declared and KuCoin stated user assets were safe.
source
Sources & method: Method → · All exchanges: /exchanges
More on KuCoin: hidden spread · withdrawal fees · move check: BTC→Bitcoin · ETH→Ethereum · ETH→Arbitrum One
Head to head: vs Binance · vs Bitget · vs Bitpanda · vs Bitstamp · vs Bitvavo
Not investment advice. Skontro is not a CASP under MiCAR. Reliability Scores are information, not recommendations: every negative datapoint is dated and sourced, the methodology is public, and no exchange can pay to change a score.