The United States regulator has filed fresh charges against Kraken, just nine months after settling previous charges.

SEC Files Charges Against Crypto Exchange Kraken—Again - Decrypt

Maxim Chechetkin claimed he deposited money into his account, some belonging to his parents, and then used the money to make trades. 

UK commercial court won't enforce arbitration award for Kraken parent Payward

Kraken crypto exchange is closing down its business in the Northeast Asian region following the instabilities in the crypto market. Read more.

Kraken Terminates Business with Payward Asia Due to Crypto Winter

Payward Europe Solutions, an Irish subsidiary of US-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, received its VASP authorization from The Central Bank of Ireland.

Kraken receives virtual asset service provider authorization in Ireland ahead of MiCA vote

The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the two Kraken crypto exchange subsidiaries, Payward Ventures Inc and Payward Trading Ltd, with failing to register and offering their asset staking-as-a-service program.  Kraken agreed to immediately cease offering or selling securities through crypto asset staking programs to settle the SEC’s charges. In addition, the company will pay a fine stipulated in $30 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.  As an immediate response, Kraken will automatically unstaked all U.S. client assets enrolled in the on-chain staking program. The asset will no longer earn staking rewards.  This applies to all staked assets except Ethereum (ETH), which will be unstaked after the upcoming Shanghai upgrade. After that, U.S. clients will not be able to stake any additional assets, including ETH, according to an official statement by Kraken.  Kraken will continue to offer staking services for no-U.S. clients through a separate Kraken subsidiary for different clients.  According to the statement released today by Kraken, staking services for non-U.S. clients will continue uninterrupted. These clients can continue to stake and unstaked assets and automatically earn staking rewards as usual. SEC Chair Gensler said: Today, we take another step in protecting retail investors by shutting down this unregistered crypto staking program, through which Kraken not only offered investors outsized returns untethered to any economic realities, but also retained the right to pay them no returns at all. All the while, it provided them zero insight into, among other things, its financial condition and whether it even had the means of paying the marketed returns in the first place. According to the SEC’s complaint, since 2019, Kraken has offered and sold its crypto asset staking services to the general public, whereby Kraken pools certain crypto assets transferred by investors and stakes them on behalf of those investors. Kaken offered these services to U.S. clients in breach of securities terms and regulations of the U.S. Government. This decision comes after Kraken’s new CEO Dave Ripley told Reuters that he’s not planning to delist any tokens cited as securities by the Securities and Exchange Commission or register with the regulator. SEC Chair Gensler added: Whether it’s through staking-as-a-service, lending, or other means, crypto intermediaries, when offering investment contracts in exchange for investors’ tokens, need to provide the proper disclosures and safeguards required by our securities laws. Today’s action should make clear to the marketplace that staking-as-a-service providers must register and provide full, fair, and truthful disclosure and investor protection. U.S. clients will not be able to stake new assets. Previously staked non-ETH assets will be unstaked automatically by the platform. These assets will allegedly return to the client’s spot wallet and will no longer earn rewards. Kraken will pay rewards in their non-staked form through February 9. As mentioned, all staked ETH will become unstaked after Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade and will continue to earn rewards until then. Kraken will not change the payout structure until after the Shanghai upgrade.  The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Laura D’Allaird and Elizabeth Goody, under the supervision of Paul Kim, Jorge G. Tenreiro, and David Hirsch, with assistance from Sachin Verma, Eugene Hansen, and James Connor. Bitcoin continues its downtrend, retracing below the $22,000 critical level, trading at $21,700. Bitcoin is down 4.8% in the last 24 hours and recorded a 7.8% retracement in the last seven days.  Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView. For updates and exclusive offers enter your email. Bitcoin news portal providing breaking news, guides, price analysis about decentralized digital money &amp; blockchain technology. © 2022 Bitcoinist. All Rights Reserved. 

The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the two Kraken crypto exchange subsidiaries, Payward Ventures Inc and Payward Trading Ltd, with failing to

Breaking: Kraken Settles With SEC And Ends Staking Services

Following the settlement reached by Kraken and its subsidiaries Payward Ventures and Payward Trading with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 9, covered by Bitcoinist, Commissioner Hester M. Pierce stated in a report that she disagreed with and dissented with the closure of the crypto exchange’s staking program.  The regulator argued that this staking program should have been registered with the SEC as a securities offering. SEC Commissioner Pierce, also known as “Crypto Mom,” argues whether or not registration would have been possible in the current crypto-related climate:  An offering like the staking service at issue here raises a host of complicated questions, including whether the staking program as a whole would be registered or whether each token’s staking program would be separately registered, what the important disclosures would be, and what the accounting implications would be for Kraken. The Commissioner stated that the SEC has been aware of the staking programs for an extended period. Thus, she suggests the SEC should have set guidance on the staking programs “long before this situation cracked the way it happened.” The Commissioner added: Instead of taking the path of thinking through staking programs and issuing guidance, we again chose to speak through an enforcement action, purporting to “make clear to the marketplace that staking-as-a-service providers must register and provide full, fair, and truthful disclosure and investor protection. Pierce states that using enforcement actions to inform people what the law is in an emerging industry is “not an efficient or fair way to regulate.” For the Commissioner, one-off enforcement actions and “cookie-cutter” analysis do not provide a solution for crypto investors in the US. Most concerning, though, is that our solution to a registration violation is to shut down entirely a program that has served people well.  Kraken’s staking program will no longer be available in the United States, registered or not, Kraken is forbidden by the SEC from ever offering a staking service in the U.S. Commissioner Piers calls the recent settlement by the SEC a “paternalistic and lazy regulator that instead of providing a solution, it just shuts it down.”  The SEC is not the only institution that has taken hostile measures against the crypto industry in recent months. For this reason, the SEC has been dealing with criticism from the U.S. Senate since October 2022, claiming that the SEC chairman has overstepped his authority and taken a hostile stance towards the financial industry. The SEC has recently experienced an exodus of staff that drew the attention of the Senate, which sent a letter demanding to know why employees are leaving the nation’s corporate watchdog at the highest rate in 10 years. The letter issued and signed by 12 Republicans of the Senate referenced a public report by the SEC on October 13 from the office of the Inspector General detailing staff attrition and reports of discontent within the SEC. According to the Inspector General report at the time, the SEC has been losing employees at a high pace in the last ten years. This data and the statements from Commissioner Peirce enforced the idea that there is internal turmoil within the regulator, particularly regarding the crypto industry and how to regulate it.  The market has reacted to the SEC settlement with Kraken with a retracement in the most prominent cryptocurrencies on the market. Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,600. It has dropped 3.9% in the last 24 hours and 7.8% in the previous seven days.  Bitcoin lost the critical support level of $22,000 and is set to test the next support level left at $21,500. If it fails to hold the nearest support, it may continue to retreat to the $20,000 area. Feature Image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView. For updates and exclusive offers enter your email. Bitcoin news portal providing breaking news, guides, price analysis about decentralized digital money &amp; blockchain technology. © 2022 Bitcoinist. All Rights Reserved. 

Following the settlement reached by Kraken and its subsidiaries Payward Ventures and Payward Trading with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) on February

Crypto Crackdown Exposes Internal Battle Within The U.S. SEC

Crypto exchange Kraken confirmed in a blog post on Wednesday that it would quit the Japanese market by the end of January 2023.

Crypto Exchange Kraken Pulls Out of Japan in a Prolonged Crypto Winter

Crypto exchange Kraken is shutting down services in Japan citing current Japanese market conditions and a weak global crypto market.

Kraken Shutting Down Crypto Exchange in Japan Citing Weak Global Crypto Market – Exchanges Bitcoin News

Payward Japan Exchange to Close – But Insider Says it May Return

Employees of Payward, which operates US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, work under a rigorous security regime, to preempt potential cyber attacks.

Kraken Employees Work Under Rigorous Security Regime

A U.S. federal court in the Northern District of California has authorized the IRS to serve a John Doe summons on Payward Ventures Inc., the parent company of Kraken.

US Court Issues Summons to Kraken for Information on Taxpayers

The U.K. advertising watchdog has banned several cryptocurrency ads, including those by Papa John's Pizza, Coinbase, Kraken, Etoro, and Luno. The authority says the ads are "misleading" and "irresponsibly taking advantage of consumers’ inexperience."

UK Bans Crypto Ads by Papa John's Pizza, Coinbase, Etoro, Luno, Kraken – Regulation Bitcoin News

The CFTC charged Kraken "for illegally offering margined retail commodity transactions in digital assets."

Kraken Charged by CFTC Over Margined Crypto Transactions, $1.25 Million Penalty Imposed – Regulation Bitcoin News

Kraken's Japanese subsidiary, Payward Asia Ltd., is expected to launch operations in mid-September.

Crypto Exchange Kraken Returns to Japan After Two-Year Hiatus

 Kraken has officially opened its new Japanese exchange under the umbrella of its Tokyo-based Payward Asia subsidiary. Per an official Kraken blog post, customers can start creating accounts from today, although fiat deposits in JPY and transactions will begin “in late September or early October.”

Crypto Exchange Giant Kraken Completes Japan Return + More News

 American crypto exchange operator Kraken is set to return to Japan after an absence of over two years – under the umbrella of its Tokyo-based Payward Asia subsidiary. The San Francisco-based firm was forced to exit Japan back in April 2018, citing rising business maintenance costs of its there. However, even while it was preparing its exit, the exchange giant claimed it was open to a return.

Crypto Exchange Kraken Makes Japan Return After Two-year Absence

Disclaimer: These summaries are provided for educational purposes only by Nelson Rosario and Stephen Palley. They are not legal advice. These are our

Kraken allegedly does not pay its head of institutional sales and trading business after departure

Cryptocurrency trading platform Kraken has received a banking license recognized under federal law to operate as a bank in the U.S. The company has outlined its plans to offer a number of cryptocurrency-focused financial services locally and globally.

Kraken Cryptocurrency Exchange Gets US Banking License, Plans to Be Global Bank – Exchanges Bitcoin News

Jesse Powell, CEO of Payward, designed Kraken to be a currency exchange platform that operates much like online forex exchanges. And after a long beta test phase, Kraken is open to the public. 

Kraken goes live for cryptocurrency traders

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is suspending all of its services to Japanese residents. The exchange has been allowed to operate in Japan while its application with the country's financial regulator is being reviewed.

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