Entries related to Kraken

February 9, 2023

Kraken ends staking, pays $30 million fine in settlement with U.S. SEC

U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has reportedly agreed to close up shop on its crypto staking operation and pay a $30 million fine to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This comes shortly after the news that the SEC was probing the exchange, and rumors from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong that the SEC was looking to "get rid of crypto staking in the U.S. for retail investors".

According to the SEC, Kraken had failed to register its staking-as-a-service program, which had generated $147 million in revenue.

This is not Kraken's first run-in with authorities, after paying a $360,000 fine to OFAC in November for sanctions violations.

November 30, 2022

Kraken pays over $360,000 to settle violations of sanctions against Iran

(attribution)

The US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken settled charges from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) alleging that they had violated sanctions against Iran. In the agreement, Kraken will pay $362,158.70 for the potential civil liability, and agree to commit $100,000 in various compliance controls.

The OFAC investigation was first revealed in July, in reporting from the New York Times.

Settlement Agreement between the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and Payward, Inc. ("Kraken"), U.S. Department of the Treasury

November 30, 2022

Kraken lays off 1,100 employees in 30% cut

(attribution)

The US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced that it had laid off 30% of its employees, or about 1,100 people. They blamed "macroeconomic and geopolitical factors" resulting in less trading and fewer clients. "Unfortunately, negative influences on the financial markets have continued and we have exhausted preferable options for bringing costs in line with demand," they wrote.

"Kraken Takes Steps to Weather Crypto Winter", Kraken

September 28, 2022

Crypto executive exodus continues

The wave of crypto executives stepping down from their roles is continuing, after Genesis' CEO left the company and Michael Saylor gave up his CEO title (but stayed on as chairman) in August.

Now, Genesis' managing director has stepped down after five years. Kraken CEO Jesse Powell relinquished his title, planning to remain at the firm as a chairman. Alex Mashinsky has resigned as the CEO of Celsius Network in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings. And FTX US president Brett Harrison will also be stepping down.

"Genesis director to step down and move into advisory role", Cointelegraph
"C.E.O. of Kraken, the Cryptocurrency Exchange, Steps Down", The New York Times
"C.E.O. of Celsius, the Crypto Bank, Resigns", The New York Times
"Brett Harrison will step down as FTX US president, move into advisory role", Cointelegraph

August 23, 2022

SudoRare NFT exchange rug pulls for $820,000

(attribution)

Six hours after its launch, the team behind the new SudoRare NFT exchange took the money and ran, deleting the project website and social media. People had already warned about issues in the project contract that signaled it could be a scam, but those were either unseen or unheeded by the people who put a collective $820,000 of various tokens into the project.

At least one of the scammer wallets interacted with the Kraken crypto exchange, a U.S.-based exchange that requires KYC, so it's possible that Kraken could help identify the scammers — though they've not made any public moves to do so.

"NFT Exchange SudoRare Goes Dark After $820,000 Rug Pull", CryptoBriefing
"SudoRare Pulled the Rug for $820,000. How Will Kraken Respond?", CryptoBriefing

July 26, 2022

OFAC has been investigating Kraken over suspected sanctions violations

(attribution)

The New York Times reported on July 26 that the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has been investigating major US-based crypto exchange Kraken for suspected sanctions violations. They reportedly believe that Kraken has been providing services to people in Iran and other sanctioned countries. The Times' sources have said that OFAC is likely to impose a fine on the company, which would make Kraken the largest crypto company to face enforcement from OFAC relating to the Iranian sanctions.

"Kraken, a U.S. Crypto Exchange, Is Suspected of Violating Sanctions", The New York Times

June 15, 2022

Kraken crypto exchange announces 🚩 culture overhaul 🚩

(attribution)

The U.S.-based crypto exchange Kraken has announced that, despite the layoffs and hiring freezes among its competitors in the ongoing "crypto winter", they intend to keep hiring aggressively. They also took the opportunity to announce that they "believe bear markets are fantastic at weeding out the applicants chasing hype from the true believers in our mission", and that they had "taken this opportunity to align our internal culture around a set of shared values". They also make it clear that anyone who disagree with the changes can GTFO: "In commitment to these values, we also expanded our permanent benefits program to make moving on a bit easier for anyone who feels it's time for the next chapter in their career."

These internal values include requiring employees to believe in "The Mission", "to accelerate the worldwide adoption of cryptocurrency". Their culture explainer also includes various points (emphasis in the original):

"We will engage in lobbying, as a single-issue donor, supporting controversial politicians and legislation that furthers The Mission, possibly to the detriment of other civil rights causes"
We will advertise with and sponsor controversial television programs, podcasts, influencers and events, if it furthers The Mission
We may incorporate firearm and self-defense training in to corporate retreats
Should we aim to be exemplary in terms of stereotypical team diversity measurements? No.

The culture document goes on to say that "Someone Must be Offended, Some of the Time":

"Krakenites are welcome to request (and deny) personal language and communication preferences of each other"
Everyone is responsible for their own feelings
Being offended doesn't necessarily make you right
Being offended doesn't necessarily make you "harmed"
Words nor silence are ever "violence"
We do not call someone's words toxic, hateful, racist, x-phobic, unhelpful, etc.

Throughout the document are various notes to clarify that although some of what they're describing definitely sounds like they might be breaking the law, they're definitely not breaking the law: e.g., "Note: We are committed to eliminating all forms of discrimination against legally protected groups in every jurisdiction in which we operate."

"Kraken Announces Global Hiring Push and Commitment to Crypto-First Culture", Kraken
"Kraken Culture Explained", Kraken
Tweet thread by Molly White
"Inside a Corporate Culture War Stoked by a Crypto C.E.O.", The New York Times

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