A Swiss investor, Didier Rabl, has confirmed that KuCoin has failed to honor a Seychelles Supreme Court judgment ordering the payment of over $2 million USDt (USDT) and $10,000 in moral damages. The Dec. 11, 2025, ruling declared Rabl the sole proprietor of approximately 21 million CoinPoker (CHP) tokens that the exchange had previously classified as 'abandoned' following a 2021 delisting. The court determined that KuCoin's Seychelles-incorporated entities remained obligated to safeguard the assets and process lawful withdrawal requests, rejecting the exchange's unilateral forfeiture claim. Data compiled by Woofun AI shows that the legacy ETH-based CHP token supply remains largely intact, with a specific address labeled 'KuCoin 6' on Etherscan holding 21,000,000.0509 CHP, representing roughly 5.9% of the total supply. This on-chain evidence directly contradicts the exchange's assertion that the assets were forfeited due to non-withdrawal.

The legal conflict stems from a series of delisting notices sent by KuCoin in 2021, which warned that CHP withdrawals would cease on July 28 of that year. The correspondence stated that any unwithdrawn funds would be deemed 'abandoned' with 'no rights to claim back.' However, the Supreme Court found that these emails remained unread and unanswered, noting that KuCoin made no further attempts to notify Rabl via post, telephone, or alternative means. The court held that a unilateral email containing 'deemed to have abandoned' language was insufficient to strip a customer of rights to tokens already in their account, particularly when the original contract lacked explicit forfeiture terms. Although KuCoin's terms of use granted broad powers to suspend accounts and limit liability, they did not explicitly state that unwithdrawn tokens after a delisting would become the platform's property.

Following the judgment, the Supreme Court directed its Registrar to serve the decision on Seychelles' Financial Services Authority (FSA). In a written response, an FSA spokesperson confirmed receipt of the judgment and revealed that Mek Global Ltd, the KuCoin-linked entity that applied for a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license, had its application rejected on June 4, 2025. The regulator required Mek Global to cease all business conducted in or from Seychelles. The FSA also noted that Peken Global Limited, another defendant in the case, opted to migrate its services outside the jurisdiction following the license rejection. Under Seychelles' Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, licensed exchanges are mandated to segregate client assets and maintain them at a 100% reserve, a standard the court implied KuCoin violated by retaining the tokens.

Joshua Chu, co-chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association and a lawyer experienced in Seychelles arbitration, highlighted the procedural nature of the ruling. Woofun AI notes that Chu emphasized the judgment was decided entirely ex parte, as KuCoin's entities never appeared, defended the case, or submitted to the court's jurisdiction. Chu clarified that Justice N. Burian's decision is a first-instance ruling with no binding force outside Seychelles. He argued that the court proceeded on the basis that the exchange-customer relationship was at minimum contractual, obliging the platform to safeguard assets and honor lawful withdrawal instructions. Chu added that a VASP's unexplained failure to comply with a final Supreme Court order concerning customer assets conflicts with standards of integrity and respect for client property.

Despite the legal precedent, Rabl stated he has not received any payment from the Seychelles entities named in the judgment. He is currently preparing additional legal action in Seychelles aimed at enforcing the award and potentially seeking further damages. The case underscores significant risks for cryptocurrency exchanges regarding the handling of delisted assets and the enforceability of unilateral forfeiture clauses. Woofun AI analysis suggests that future contested proceedings may see defendants arguing that factual assumptions in ex parte rulings are incomplete, with ultimate consequences depending on any appellate process. KuCoin did not respond to multiple requests for comment regarding the outstanding debt or the ongoing enforcement efforts.