KuCoin announced on September 1 that it is reducing the trading-volume threshold for newly registered API clients to access its institutional lending program and integrating borrowed funds into its Unified Trading Account (UTA).
The modifications reduce the required external 30-day trading volume to 10 million USDT from the previous 30 million USDT. Eligible clients can now borrow up to 3 million USDT, with the first two months interest-free and no trading-volume requirement.
Institutional Lending Fully Integrated into UTA
KuCoin’s upgraded institutional lending program directly integrates borrowing into the Unified Trading Account (UTA), a framework that enables eligible users to manage capital across various trading products.
Borrowed funds can be deployed across Spot, Margin, and Futures without the need for transfers between separate accounts. Eligible clients may borrow in USDT, USDC, BTC, and ETH.
Alison Qin, Head of KuCoin Institutional & VIP, stated that the integration aims to provide professional market participants with more flexible access to liquidity while aligning financing with the accounts and products used for trading.
KuCoin Broadens Institutional Lending Capabilities
The 2026 upgrade expands KuCoin’s institutional lending from a targeted credit program toward a more integrated capital infrastructure.
The UTA integration builds on KuCoin’s institutional lending program, launched in 2024, which offered interest-free credit of up to 500,000 USDT for eligible API traders and quantitative teams.
In 2025, KuCoin raised the borrowing limit to 3 million USDT, introduced support for multiple borrowing assets, and allowed funds from sub-accounts to be used as margin across eligible products.
The 2026 upgrade further connects lending with the account infrastructure used for trading. The company frames this as part of a broader effort to unify financing, account infrastructure, and trade execution for professional users operating across multiple products and strategies.
Implications for Institutional Traders
The upgrade signals a shift in KuCoin’s institutional offering from standalone lending to integrated trading infrastructure. Lowering the qualification threshold may expand access beyond the largest trading firms, while embedding borrowed capital within UTA reduces the need to manage financing and collateral across separate accounts.
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