KuCoin has been nominated in two categories — Leader in Digital Asset Adoption and Best Trading Infrastructure — for the BeInCrypto Institutional 100 Awards 2026. The nominations arrive as the exchange leans hard into its infrastructure story, touting a network of more than 1,000 broker and fintech partners and a fresh set of regulatory authorizations.
The nominations and what they reflect
The BeInCrypto Institutional 100 Awards spotlight crypto platforms serving professional and institutional clients. KuCoin's dual nod covers both reach — over 40 million registered users across more than 200 countries — and the technical backbone it's been building. The exchange launched its Unified Trading Account (UTA) this year, consolidating spot, futures and margin assets into a single balance. It also made futures market data available on TradingView in April.
Infrastructure moves and partner integration
Alison Qin, Head of KuCoin Institutional & VIP, framed the nominations as a validation of the exchange's shift from a spot trading venue into a liquidity engine for partners. KuCoin now runs an Off-Exchange Settlement framework integrated with BitGo's Go Network and Ceffu's MirrorX, letting institutional clients keep assets with qualified custodians while trading on the exchange. Its RWA Collateral Mirroring Solution (RCMS) allows tokenized assets such as UBS uMINT and Asseto CASH+ to be used as trading collateral. The exchange also counts nearly 80 partners globally for its Crypto-as-a-Service offering.
Regulatory paperwork and payment products
KuCoin holds AUSTRAC registration in Australia and, this year, secured MiCAR authorization via its Austrian entity KuCoin EU. On the retail side, the exchange offers KuCoin Pay and the KuCard payment card, though the institutional pitch is clearly the focus of the award nominations. The regulatory badges matter: MiCAR authorization gives KuCoin a passport to operate across the European Economic Area under the bloc's new crypto framework.
The BeInCrypto Institutional 100 Awards winners are set to be announced later this year. With two nominations in categories that directly reflect its recent build-out, KuCoin will be watching closely — especially given the stiff competition from other exchanges that have also been chasing institutional flow.
