What Is KuCoin?

It is evident the cryptocurrency industry in China has taken a few big hits of late. With ICOs being banned and major exchanges suspending CNY trading temporarily, things aren’t looking all that positive. However, the country’s exchanges aren’t giving up by any means. Newly-launched KuCoin is a Chinese exchange primarily targeting foreign customers. It’s an interesting business strategy, to say the very least.

KuCoin is a new Contender on the Block

While there is always some reason for apprehension when it comes to dealing with new cryptocurrency exchanges, KuCoin is embarking on a very bold plan. Running a cryptocurrency exchange within China is not prohibited or illegal by any means, even though servicing Chinese customers can prove somewhat difficult these days. That is, until the new regulations go into effect, which could happen virtually any day now. When it comes to Chinese exchanges, no one knows for sure what the future will hold.

KuCoin isn’t too bothered by the current regulatory landscape, as the company is mainly interested in attracting foreign users. Although we have seen some other companies attempt to do the same, it will be interesting to see how these ventures play out in the long run. There is a global demand for cryptocurrency, after all, and nothing has been set in stone just yet.

What makes this new exchange so appealing is how it will support some interesting cryptocurrencies from day one. Bitcoin is included, of course, as are Litecoin and Ethereum. As one would expect from a Chinese company, KuCoin will also support NEO and its GAS token, as well as a handful of other currencies. Some of the choices may be considered somewhat controversial, though. Considering the crackdown on ICOs, the listing of a fair few ERC20 tokens is not necessarily the best decision.

All of this seemingly confirms that the new exchange will not focus on fiat currency trading, at least for the time being. That may be a smart decision, as there is always a need for crypto-to-crypto exchange competition. Indeed, many users want to exchange between different cryptocurrencies rather than fiat currency itself. Whether or not we will see more currencies or perhaps even fiat trading added in the future remains to be seen.

One interesting aspect of this new platform is how it will issue its own KCS token bonus plan. It is very similar to Binance in this regard, as these “shares” will be used to redistribute 50% of all platform trading fees to the users. It is an interesting way to generate passive income, especially when considering there are “only” 100 million KCS in existence at any given time. Every token is currently valued at slightly under US$0.50, which could easily turn it into a solid investment opportunity.

With more and more exchanges creating their own currencies and tokens these days, a new era is dawning as we speak. Whether or not there is a point to all of these native tokens being issued lately remains to be seen. While the bonus scheme won’t necessarily hinder the chances of success for this new currency, it may result in the platform becoming very popular very quickly and subsequently losing traction shortly afterward. These new tokens will give the platform some value for long-term growth, though, and interesting things may happen for KuCoin in the near future.