KuCoin

KCS is the token of the KuCoin exchange: staking it gives holders a share of trading-fee revenue.

KuCoin Token (KCS), first called KuCoin Shares, is the token of KuCoin, a large crypto exchange run by the offshore company Peken Global Limited. KCS was created as an Ethereum (ERC-20) token on 22 August 2017 and sold in a token sale that ended on 1 September 2017. The token later moved to a new Ethereum contract, and it also serves as the fee token of KuCoin Community Chain (KCC), a smaller blockchain with little activity today.

KCS started with 200 million tokens. KuCoin buys back and burns KCS, destroying tokens permanently, and says it will stop when 100 million remain. About 142 million KCS existed in September 2026. KuCoin's own pages describe the burn in two different ways: as a monthly burn based on revenue, and as 10% of net profit each quarter.

Most KCS use happens inside the KuCoin exchange. Users who stake KCS in KuCoin's Earn product get a daily bonus paid from a share of KuCoin's trading-fee revenue, plus loyalty levels that bring fee discounts, withdrawal rebates, extra rewards and card cashback. KCS also gives access to token launches and voting on listings.

In January 2025 KuCoin's operator pleaded guilty in the United States to running an unlicensed money-transmitting business, agreed to pay about $297 million and to leave the US market for at least two years. KuCoin's European arm received a MiCA licence in Austria in November 2025.