Convert between KCS and US dollars at the live rate.
$28.83
−77.38% from current
$0.342863
+1801.63% from current
Independent editorial ranking. Score is 0–10 across six criteria: Security, Fees, UX, Features, Support, Reputation.
US and EU users who prioritise a spotless security record — no major hack since 2011 — and want a serious pro-grade trading terminal.
Institutions and funds requiring an SEC-registered venue with segregated qualified custody and audited on-chain reserves.
Active spot traders chasing the deepest global liquidity and the widest listing catalogue outside the US perimeter.
Traders who mix spot and on-chain — the Web3 wallet, DEX aggregator and Ethereum L2 X Layer sit inside the same account as CEX pairs.
Long-horizon EU holders who want the oldest continuously-operating exchange (2011) with conservative listings and full MiCA licensing.
Derivatives-first traders who want tighter perp funding and a maker-friendly fee schedule; accept offshore regulatory footprint.
Top coins in the same category, ordered by market cap.
KuCoin Token (KCS) is the native utility token of the KuCoin exchange. It launched in September 2017 as KuCoin Shares through an ICO, and the original ERC-20 contract still lives on Ethereum. KuCoin itself was founded the same year in Hong Kong by Michael Gan and Eric Don, with Gan as the launch CEO. The exchange now operates from Seychelles and consistently sits among the top 10 to 15 venues by spot trading volume.
KCS started as a pure revenue-share token: hold it, get a daily payout funded by trading fees. Over the years KuCoin bolted on more uses, including launchpad allocations, Earn yields, and gas on its own Layer 1. KCS now sits in the same category as BNB and OKB, but with a smaller cap and a much messier 2024-2025 regulatory backstory. For a head-to-head with the category leader, see our Binance Coin page. For another exchange-token reference, the Cronos page covers Crypto.com’s setup.
KCS trades on KuCoin (the deepest venue), Bybit, Bitfinex, Gate, and MEXC. Live data on this page is a volume-weighted average across major spot venues and refreshes every 60 seconds. KCS hit an all-time high near $28.83 in November 2021, during the broader exchange-token rally that year, and has spent most of the time since well below that mark.
What moves KCS on a given day:
The number in the price card above is live; the analysis below uses the levels at page load.
KuCoin Bonus is the original reason anyone bought KCS. The mechanic is simple. KuCoin takes 50% of the daily trading fee revenue across the exchange, multiplies it by each holder’s share of the qualifying KCS supply, and pays it out the next day in BTC and the actual tokens that were traded. Hold 1,000 KCS and 0.0001% of the qualifying float, you get 0.0001% of that day’s fee pool.
Two things matter in practice. First, KCS has to be held in a KuCoin spot wallet to qualify; tokens parked on another exchange or in a personal wallet earn nothing. Second, the payout is only as good as the volume on the day. Slow weeks pay almost nothing; busy ones during a bull market can pay several percent annualized. KCS was one of the first major tokens to run this model, and it shaped how BNB, OKB, and HT structured their later programs.
KuCoin Community Chain launched in June 2021 as an EVM-compatible Layer 1 with KCS as the gas token. It was KuCoin’s answer to BNB Chain: a low-fee EVM where KCS does double duty as utility token and validator stake. Block times are around 3 seconds and average fees stay under a cent.
The DeFi ecosystem on KCC is small compared with BNB Chain, Avalanche, or Polygon. The main protocols include KuSwap and MoJitoSwap (DEXes) and ProBit-related lending products. ProjectM and a handful of GameFi projects round out the rest. Total value locked on KCC has stayed well below $50M for most of 2024 and 2025, and bridge depth into KCC is thin. Treat it as a niche EVM that gives KCS a gas-asset use case rather than a serious Solana or BNB Chain competitor.
KCS launched with a total supply of 170 million tokens. KuCoin’s long-term commitment is to burn down to roughly 140 million through a buy-and-burn program funded by 10% of quarterly profits. Burns are reported each quarter and the contract balance is verifiable on-chain.
The Bonus and the burn are the two real economic levers. The first ties KCS demand to today’s exchange volume, the second slowly tightens supply. Neither matters much during sideways markets; both compound during active ones.
In March 2024, the US Department of Justice charged KuCoin and two co-founders, Chun Gan and Ke Tang, with operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and violating the Bank Secrecy Act. The complaint focused on weak KYC controls and US users trading on the platform without the venue being registered as a US money services business.
The case settled in January 2025. KuCoin Global agreed to pay roughly $297M and committed to exiting the US market entirely. The two charged co-founders stepped back from operational roles. From a token holder perspective, the settlement removed years of regulatory uncertainty but also cut KuCoin off from US retail demand. KCS held up better than many expected through the case, and the resolution let the project move past the headline overhang.
Buying KCS is straightforward, with one wrinkle: if you want the daily Bonus, you need to hold the token on KuCoin itself. Self-custody works fine for price exposure but does not earn the payout.
For longer-term scenarios on where the token goes from here, see our KCS price forecast.
KCS is a concentrated bet on one exchange and one regulatory situation. A few risks deserve a closer look than the usual volatility warning.
This page is information, not financial advice. Exchange tokens carry concentrated platform risk that often gets underestimated until it matters.
Analysis last updated:
KuCoin (KCS) trades at $6.52 with a 24-hour volume of $3.14M and a market capitalization of $894.29M. The asset is currently ranked #71 among all tracked cryptocurrencies.
In the last 24 hours, the KCS price has fallen +2.37%. On a seven-day window, KuCoin has retraced +1.72%, under sustained selling pressure on both windows. Short-term moves are often amplified by liquidity, news flow, and derivatives positioning, so confirm signals across multiple indicators before acting.
KuCoin's all-time high of $28.83 was set on December 1, 2021. The current price sits +77.38% below that peak. Distance from the all-time high is a common reference point when evaluating long recoveries and macro support or resistance.
Buying KuCoin (KCS) is a five-step routine once you have picked the right venue and pair. The steps below mirror what most investors do today.
You can also use the KuCoin converter above to estimate how much KCS you would get for a given dollar amount before placing the order.
Whether KuCoin is a good investment depends on your goals, time horizon, and tolerance for volatility. Like all cryptocurrencies, KCS carries real market risk: prices can rise or fall sharply in a day, and past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.
This page provides data and analysis for educational purposes only. It is not financial advice. Always do your own research, diversify, and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
