PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- KuCoin, a leading global crypto platform built on trust, today released its 2026 H1 Review: Beyond the Signal, a ninth-anniversary special edition that traces the platform's evolution and progress during the first half of 2026.
The crypto industry has evolved from one primarily defined by market access and trading into an increasingly connected part of global finance and everyday economic activity. Platforms are now measured not only by their reach, but also by the trust, resilience, intelligence, and practical utility of the infrastructure they build. The review examines how KuCoin has evolved alongside this transition—from an early gateway for asset discovery into a broader ecosystem serving users, institutions, businesses, and Web3 participants.
The report highlights KuCoin's growth to more than 45 million users worldwide. Alongside continued strength in established markets, KuCoin recorded encouraging momentum across high-growth emerging regions, with new-user growth of 170% in Latin America and 30% in Africa during the period. This momentum was supported by continued investment across core trading infrastructure, Web3 access, real-world payments, and institutional services.
KuCoin's Crypto-as-a-Service ecosystem now supports more than 120 partners, while its broker network has grown to more than 400 partners. This growth reflects rising demand among brokers, fintechs and other businesses for modular, institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure. It also demonstrates KuCoin's expanding role beyond its core exchange services—as an infrastructure provider that supports broader participation in the digital asset economy.
Trust remained central to this expansion. KuCoin's $2 billion Trust Project brings together five pillars: security infrastructure, compliance and governance, transparency mechanisms, user protection, and global infrastructure and operational resilience. Independent third-party validation of this work includes SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO/IEC 27701:2019 and CCSS certifications, together with Hacken-audited Proof of Reserves. KuCoin also expanded its regulatory footprint, including registration as a Digital Currency Exchange provider with AUSTRAC in Australia and MiCAR authorization in Europe.
The review identifies real-world utility and the convergence of crypto with traditional finance as priorities for KuCoin's next stage. KuCoin Pay recorded strong growth in on-chain payment volume, more than 3x growth in off-chain payment volume, approximately 25x growth in total orders, and 60% growth in the number of service partners and merchants. Meanwhile, KuCard launched in Australia through Mastercard's global network. The significance of these figures extends beyond transaction growth. They suggest that mainstream crypto payments will depend less on asking consumers and merchants to learn an entirely new Web3 payment process and more on integrating digital assets into payment methods they already understand.
AI is also becoming integral to KuCoin's infrastructure roadmap. KIA, KuCoin's crypto-native AI assistant, evolved from a standalone tool into an ecosystem-wide intelligence layer spanning eight core scenarios, including futures, spot trading, search, asset services, content, wealth management, market data, and campaigns. KIA recorded 300% growth in daily active users, while the KuCoin Skills Hub made modular crypto capabilities available to external AI agents, supporting the development of more intelligent, agent-ready crypto infrastructure.
"Nine years of market cycles have reinforced a simple belief: time rewards trust," said BC Wong, CEO of KuCoin. "As crypto moves from the margins into the infrastructure of global finance, the platforms that endure will be defined not by short-term noise, but by the lasting value they create. For KuCoin, that means building secure and transparent infrastructure, advancing responsible innovation, strengthening compliance, and connecting digital assets with the real economy. Beyond the Signal is our commitment to building an ecosystem that users and the industry can trust for the long term."
As KuCoin enters its tenth year, it will continue to scale trust, advance intelligent infrastructure and expand the real-world utility of digital assets.
The full 2026 H1 Review: Beyond the Signal is available here.
About KuCoin
Founded in 2017, KuCoin is a leading global crypto platform built on trust and security, serving over 45 million users across 200+ countries and regions. Known for its reliability and user-first approach, the platform combines advanced technology, deep liquidity, and strong security safeguards to deliver a seamless trading experience. KuCoin provides access to 1,500+ digital assets through a broad product suite and remains committed to building transparent, compliant, and user-centric digital asset infrastructure for the future of finance, backed by SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, and ISO/IEC 27701:2019 Certifications. In recent years, we have built a strong global compliance foundation, marked by key milestones including AUSTRAC registration in Australia, a MiCA license in Europe, and regulatory progress in other markets.
Learn more at www.kucoin.com.
Disclaimer
The information is for corporate PR purposes only and does not constitute endorsement or investment advice.
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Beyond the Signal: KuCoin Celebrates Its Ninth Anniversary, Surpasses 45 Million Users, and Advances Its Trust-First Vision
SINGAPORE, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- FWD Singapore Pte. Ltd. ("FWD") and Ascend Asia Financial Services Group ("Ascend Asia") have signed a long-term strategic partnership to strengthen financial advisory distribution and broaden access to quality financial advice in Singapore. The partnership will provide customers with enhanced financial advice and broader access to insurance and investment solutions through Ascend Asia's open architecture financial advisory platform.
This partnership brings together FWD's customer-led product capabilities and digital servicing strengths with Ascend Asia's governance framework, adviser network and technology-enabled platform. It aims to support the continued evolution of Singapore's advisory landscape and deliver greater value to customers over the long-term.
Ascend Asia's customers across the retail, mass affluent and high-net-worth ("HNW") segments have access to FWD's full suite of solutions available to financial advisory firms, including life insurance, investment-linked products and HNW offerings. Customers will also benefit from a wider selection of investment options, with Ascend Asia Asset Management funds now included as sub-funds on FWD's investment-linked product portfolio. Both organisations will also collaborate on selected analytics and technology initiatives to generate deeper insights into customer needs, facilitate product innovation and enhance advisory tools.
Operating fully within the open architecture financial advisory ecosystem, FWD aims to support the industry's shift towards greater transparency, disciplined governance and technology-enabled advisory processes.
Adrian Vincent, Chief Executive Officer of FWD Singapore, said, "As the open architecture financial advisory model gains momentum in Singapore, our partnership with Ascend Asia, alongside our longstanding collaboration with IPP Financial Advisers, reflects FWD's commitment to raising the standard of financial planning. With consumers becoming increasingly discerning about how they access financial advice and ongoing support, we are confident in the future of the open architecture model and congratulate Ascend Asia on its investment in strengthening the independent financial advisory ecosystem.
With Singapore becoming a super-aged society, facing a significant critical illness protection gap and strengthening its position as a global wealth hub, these partnerships will further enable us to meet evolving customer needs at scale."
Tomas Urbanec, Chief Executive Officer of Ascend Asia, said, "Our mission is to empower our member firms with the strategic investment, structure and tools they need to thrive and support their clients along their wealth journeys. Close collaboration with our partners in areas like product and customer proposition development extends choice for customers and amplifies the impact of our open architecture model. This partnership with FWD broadens access to a strong range of customer-focused solutions and technology-enabled experiences for advisers on the Ascend Asia platform, and we look forward to unlocking superior outcomes for our member firms' advisers and clients."
The partnership was formally commemorated with a celebratory event held at the newly launched Ascend Asia Wealth Centre. The event brought together senior leaders from FWD Singapore, FWD Group, Ascend Asia and representatives from Ascend Asia's member firms. Attendees included Mr Adrian Vincent, CEO of FWD Singapore; Mr Tomas Urbanec, CEO of Ascend Asia; Mr Binayak Dutta, Senior MD, SouthEast Asia, FWD Group; together with management team of FWD Singapore and Ascend Asia member firms.
This event marked the start of the long-term strategic partnership and reaffirming the shared commitment of all parties to strengthening Singapore's open architecture financial advisory ecosystem through closer collaboration, innovation and customer-centric advice.
About FWD Singapore
FWD Singapore is part of FWD Group, a pan-Asian life and health insurance business that serves approximately 40 million customers across 10 markets and is listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code 1828. In Singapore, FWD started operations in 2016, becoming one of the first insurers to offer a direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform for purchasing preferred life and general insurance products online. Further expanding its omnichannel presence, FWD partners with a network of preferred Financial Advisory (FA) firms, international brokers, and banks to widen customer reach. In 2024, FWD set up its second insurance license in Singapore under the FWD Private brand for a dedicated high-net-worth (HNW) insurance offering.
For more information, please visit www.fwd.com.sg.
About Ascend Asia Financial Services Group
Launched in 2025, Ascend Asia Financial Services Group ("Ascend Asia") is committed to elevating the quality of financial advisory services in Singapore and beyond. Today, Ascend Asia comprises a network of financial advisory member firms and a dedicated asset management firm. Ascend Asia supports its member firms in scaling sustainably through strategic investment, industry expertise, and technology. Through an open-architecture platform, member firms and their financial consultants are empowered with a comprehensive range of solutions and tools to deliver personalised financial advice – enabling clients to make informed decisions that best meet their needs.
Issued on behalf of FWD Insurance Singapore by Redhill Communications.
** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **
FWD Singapore and Ascend Asia sign long-term strategic partnership to strengthen financial advisory distribution in Singapore
