US Treasury Investigates Kraken For Alleged Iran Sanction Violation

The US Treasury investigates Kraken for alleged sanction violation after allowing users in Iran to use the exchange despite the imposed sanctions so let’s have a closer look at today’s latest cryptocurrency news.

According to unnamed sources, the US Treasury investigates Kraken for a suspected sanctions violation for allowing users in Iran to use the exchange while being under sanctions. The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is investigating Kraken for violating economic sanctions against Iran and five people already that are affiliated with the company told the New York Times that Kraken is suspected of allowing customers in Iran as well as other sanctioned countries to use its exchange despite the company being banned from doing so. The sources remained anonymous because they fear retaliation.

The US upheld economic sanctions against Iran since 1979 which means no business based in the US can buy or sell goods to anyone in the country. The Chief Legal Officer of Kraken Marco Santori said tht Kraken doesn’t comment on the specific discussions with the regulators. He continued:

“Kraken has robust compliance measures in place and continues to grow its compliance team to match its business growth. Kraken closely monitors compliance with sanctions laws and, as a general matter, reports to regulators even potential issues.”

While Kraken might be under scrutiny for violating US sanctions, OpenSea frustrated some users also when it made a point of enforcing US Sanctions against Iran. Back in March, the NY-based NFT market banned a number of traders from Iran who either lived in or claimed they lived in the country previously. The US CFTC fined Kraken $1.25 million for listing illegal off-exchange digital asset tradings and failing to register as required.

In the meantime, the company was reckoning with the internal culture clash and a month ago, the CEO Jesse Powell doubled down on the efforts to ensure his exchange remained a freedom company and also advised the triggered employees to leave.