Kraken, an American cryptocurrency exchange, settles for the Treasury Department

A legendary sea monsterA US cryptocurrency exchange has agreed to pay $360,000 to the Treasury Department Monday to settle charges of sanctions violations in relation to virtual currency transactions by Iranian users.

According to the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, Kraken, the second largest crypto exchange in the US by volume, has agreed to a settlement that will allow approximately $1.7 million in transactions to individuals who were in Iran between October 2015 to June 2019. The United States placed sanctions on Iran in 1979. They prohibited the export of services or goods to any person or entity in the country.

According to the bureau’s statement, violations could result in a maximum civil financial punishment of $270 million. However, the bureau determined that the settlement would not exceed $270m because Kraken had reported the violations. The company also agreed to spend $100,000 more on compliance controls.

The statement stated that “Kraken failed exercise caution or due diligence in respect to its obligations under the sanctions.” It stated that the company had user information that showed that transactions appeared to have been made from Iran.

Marco Santori, Kraken’s chief legal officer, stated in a statement that the company was “delighted to have solved this matter.”

Kraken said that he took several steps to improve compliance procedures before entering into this decision. “This includes further strengthening our control systems, expanding our compliance team, and strengthening training and accountability.”

The settlement comes at an incredibly turbulent time in the cryptocurrency industry. One of Kraken’s rivals, Bahamas-based FTX is being settled this month. collapsedThe industry was plunged into the worst crisis in its history by an influx of deposits. BlockFi, a major cryptocurrency lender, was also attacked Monday. Filed bankruptcyCiting the implosion effect FTX.

Kraken, a $11 billion private company that lets users buy, sell, or hold various cryptocurrency tokens, has been subject to regulatory action in the past. A fine of $1.25 millionFor providing a prohibited trading platform, the CFTC. Jesse Powell, cofounder, and CEO of this company, announced that it was in September he was stepping downAfter internal disputes between employees and government investigations.

The New York Times published July’s edition mentionedOFAC had been looking into Kraken since 2019. A spreadsheet circulated by Powell on the Slack messaging service, which appeared to show Kraken having served accounts in sanctioned nations such as Iran, was circulated by Powell over the previous month. He said the data came from residency information listed on “verified accounts.”

Last month, the Office of Foreign Assets Control announced her biggest punishmentBittrex, a cryptocurrency exchange, was fined $24 Million for violating sanctions by allowing customers in Cuba and Iran, Sudan, Syria, and Russian-occupied Crimea virtual currency transactions worth more than $263 millions.