According to a report that was written and distributed by the New York Times, sources claimed that Kraken is being probed for allegedly violating US sanctions imposed on Iran.
Kraken is a bitcoin exchange and bank that was established in 2011 and is situated in the United States. It was one of the initial exchanges to be registered on Bloomberg Terminal, and as of the middle of summer 2022, its market capitalization was estimated to be $11 billion.
According to a report published by the New York Times on Tuesday, the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, which is situated in the United States, is purportedly the subject of a federal investigation into what sources claim are offenses relating to Iran.
The publication claims that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Treasury Department has been investigating the exchange since 2019 for allegedly letting customers in sanctioned Iran purchase and sell cryptos despite the fact that the exchange is subject to an investigation.
Per recent reports, OFAC is getting ready to punish Kraken; if true, this would be the fourth possible sanction levied against the privately owned company in less than a year.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) levied a fine of $1.25 million on the exchange operator in September 2021 for running an unlicensed off-exchange crypto trading business. The violation occurred in relation to the trading of cryptocurrencies.
Increased Vigilance From the Regulatory Bodies
As a result of recent happenings, the cryptocurrency industry is reportedly the subject of an inquiry, which coincides with the widespread belief that the industry as a whole is facing heightened regulatory attention.
It appears that the failure of Terra (LUNA) and the stablecoin project TerraUSD (UST), as well as the cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), was merely the tip of the iceberg.
The cryptocurrency market is still in the midst of winter, and the turmoil has already resulted in the failure of cryptocurrency lenders Celsius Network and Voyager Digital.
These occurrences have just added gasoline to the tighter regulatory approaches that have been seen coming from all across the world.
It was revealed on Tuesday that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was conducting an investigation into the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase regarding the listing of what are believed to be securities tokens.
More News: Macroeconomic Factors Driving Cryptos: Binances’ CZ
Coinbase, which is based in the United States, has responded to a charge made by the SEC that the site has listed securities.