The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has brought an action against Kraken alleging the comingling of customer funds and failing to licence as a securities exchange, broker, dealer and clearing agency.
If proven, the charges would amount to the operation by Kraken of a platform illegally facilitating crypto since 2018 and carrying on trading practices with lack of proper internal controls resulting in Kraken exchange commingling up to $33 billion of customer assets with the exchange’s own creating “significant risk of loss” for Kraken’s clients. Kraken, which paid a US$30 million settlement with the SEC in February 2023 in return for stopping crypto staking for US customers, has said they will defend the SEC action. “We disagree with the SEC’s complaint against Kraken, stand firm in our view that we do not list securities and plan to vigorously defend our position,” according to a statement issued by Kraken.
