- Foreign Assets Control has been investigating Kraken.
- U.S. crypto exchange Kraken faces U.S. sanctions.
- Possible fines for violating the sanctions.
In recent reports, crypto exchange platform Kraken is under federal investigation for potentially violating U.S. sanction laws. The exchange platform allowed users in Iran and elsewhere to potentially buy and sell digital currency.
In a recent tweet by the Wu Blockchain, Kraken is suspected of allowing users to buy and sell digital assets in sanctioned countries like Iran.
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is investigating the platform, and they could face fines for violating the sanctions.
Since the year 2019, the U.S. treasury department has been investigating the exchange platform and hence expected to impose a fine according to the reports. The fine might lead to big trouble for the company, as it will have to pay millions of dollars as a penalty.
If the exchange platform is found guilty, then the exchange will be fined and will also have to change its policies to comply with the U.S. sanction laws. This makes Kraken one of the biggest cryptocurrency platforms to suffer from U.S. sanctions and to suffer enforcement action from the treasury regarding violation of the sanction that was imposed on Iran.
This kind of news is not good for the image of cryptocurrency, as it is already considered to be associated with criminal activities by many people. If such big platforms are found violating laws, it may have a very bad impact on the whole industry. Hence, it is important for all the players in the industry to follow all the rules and regulations properly to maintain a good image of cryptocurrency.
In the year 2021, the platform also suffered a big loss after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) slapped the exchange with a $1.25 million fine for operating a prohibited trading service and for wash trading.
This comes days after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched a probe on Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, over potential securities law violations.
In other reports, Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer singled out SEC Chair Gary Gensler for the seemingly-unlawful probing measures on crypto companies based in the US. He added that the inquiries should not go against the Paperwork Reduction Act.
