Michael Gan stepped down from every role at KuCoin as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, Decrypt reported on Monday, January 27, 2025, citing his statement that day2. Gan's own post on KuCoin's blog, timestamped January 28, 2025, says the same1. Decrypt reported on January 27, 2025 that Gan and co-founder Ke Tang had "signed deferred prosecution agreements, avoiding further legal action," and that each would forfeit $2.7 million.
The second executive exit at KuCoin on the record since 2025
Leadership moves CryptoLately has verified at KuCoin, by year
- 2025: 4
- 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2022 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1 |
| 2024 | 0 |
| 2025 | 4 |
20 executive exits on the record in 2025
Executive exits CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2025: 20
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 6 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2022 | 9 |
| 2023 | 8 |
| 2024 | 11 |
| 2025 | 20 |
| 2026 | 27 |
The move
Gan tied his exit directly to the settlement's terms. “As part of this resolution, I have stepped down from all roles connected to the company and its affiliates,” Gan wrote. “This decision is part of the agreement with the DOJ and reflects my unwavering commitment to KuCoin's continued success.”1 He pointed to a successor already in place. “I have full confidence in BC Wong and the exceptional leadership team,” Gan wrote. “Their vision, dedication, and innovative approach will undoubtedly solidify KuCoin's position as a trusted leader in the cryptocurrency industry.”
Before and after the exit
Gan had started KuCoin in 2017, he wrote, growing it into an exchange serving "over 38 million users" by the time of his departure1. Decrypt traced the case to “a March 2024 indictment against KuCoin and its founders, Chun Gan and Ke Tang, both Chinese nationals,” over the charges the settlement resolved2. Gan called the outcome "a favorable outcome" that dismissed every charge against him and Tang, and said in his post that he planned to pursue "new blockchain ventures" going forward.
What came next
Eighteen months later, BC Wong remained KuCoin's chief executive, marking the exchange's ninth anniversary with an event at the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium, the Cryptonomist reported on July 28, 20263. Wong framed the exchange's progress around the trust it had kept with users since Gan's exit. “The greatest achievement of the past nine years has not been our growth alone, but the confidence our users, partners and community have continued to place in us,” Wong said. "Trust is the infrastructure that enables innovation, adoption and long-term progress."
Sources
- Michael Gan, "Embracing a New Chapter Ahead - A Message from Our Founder, Michael Gan," KuCoin, Jan. 28, 2025, https://www.kucoin.com/blog/message-from-kucoin-founder-michael-embracing-new-chapter
- Sebastian Sinclair, "KuCoin Co-Founders Step Down Amid $300M Settlement Over US Charges," Decrypt, Jan. 27, 2025, https://decrypt.co/303051/kucoin-co-founders-step-down-amid-300m-settlement-over-us-charges
- "KuCoin Ninth Anniversary Highlights Digital Finance Progress," The Cryptonomist, Jul. 28, 2026, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMicEFVX3lxTE1nWEVtOVlEMFQ5OEZVNTJvUjU2M1N3YTFGN3lDc1h6Q29RRWgyN3dEMU5Na0pXZS05clZPX0NhN0pYMXVrUThiZVU5SExMRFN5aV8tMGVveVZ4LUhiaDRZUkVpNFNNTFpMU19FV0dGQ28?oc=5