Ukraine’s Oldest Cryptocurrency Exchange KUNA Shuts Down After Court Ban

Ukraine’s cryptocurrency exchange, Kuna, ceased its operations in all countries. This was announced by the company’s founder, Mykhailo Chobanian, on Jan. 30.

The ceasing of operations was followed by a decision to block access to Kuna in Ukraine, issued by Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv upon the request of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine (BEB). 

Since 2023, the BEB has been conducting pre-trial investigations into cryptocurrency exchanges whose beneficiaries are Ukrainian residents, according to the agency’s head, Andriy Pashchuk, ITC.ua wrote. 

The BEB suspects Kuna of evading taxes worth Hr.50 million ($1.19 million), Forbes Ukraine reported. 

After the court decision, on Jan. 22, the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP) issued an order for internet providers to block access to Kuna in Ukraine 

Six days later, Ukrainian internet providers began blocking access to the platform.

Kuna was founded in 2016 (according to Coinmarketcap) and is considered to be the oldest cryptocurrency exchange not only in Ukraine but also all among the countries of the former Soviet Union. 

The platform serves more than 500,000 users and is registered in Lithuania, according to the website. As of Jan. 20, 2025, KUNA’s reported 24-hour spot trading volume reached approximately $3.7 million, Liquidityfinder data showed. In 2021, New York Times wrote that Kuna operated about $3 million a day in transactions.

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Mykhailo Chobanian wrote in his Telegram blog that the decision to shut down was made after the Kuna website was blocked in Ukraine without the company’s representatives being involved in the court process. 

“We were not invited to the court hearing and only learned about the blocking from our Ukrainian users. Our entire infrastructure is hosted on cloud servers in Europe, so only users in Ukraine are currently unable to access the platform,” he wrote. 

On Jan. 30, Chobanian decided to close down all commercial operations of Kuna and concentrate on other activities. 

“That is why it is time for difficult decisions – KUNA is fully ceasing operations in all countries. Ceasing, not selling… I ask you to withdraw all your funds within the next two months and allow me to focus on what truly matters – our shared, bright future. We will discuss this future, which will soon become our reality, in Lugano in May at our annual conference. But for now, we are closing the past to make room for something new and exciting – Symbiocracy,” he wrote in another post. 

Chobanian wrote that he “does not intend to engage in conflict with the state,” and plans to to focus on social projects and artificial intelligence instead.