Kraken concorda em pagar $30M e fecha caso com a SEC: detalhes
- A Kraken foi acusada pela SEC de fornecer serviços de apostas a cidadãos americanos sem registrar esses serviços no regulador.
- A bolsa está encerrando os serviços de apostas nos EUA e pagará $30 milhões em ressarcimento, juros de pré-julgamento e multas civis.
- The regulator stated that the exchange failed “to register the offer and sale of their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program.”
- The Twitter crypto community did not support the SEC’s decision, and one user said that the SEC gave “zero guidance” on what compliance means.
A popular exchange de criptomoedas Kraken enfrentou uma ação da Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dos Estados Unidos por fornecer serviços de apostas aos cidadãos do país sem registrar esses serviços no regulador de valores mobiliários dos EUA. Isso resultou na troca de criptomoedas fechando os serviços de apostas na região imediatamente e também pagará cerca de $30 milhões ao regulador em restituição, juros de pré-julgamento e multas civis.
De acordo com um anúncio em 9 de fevereiro, a SEC revelado que tem cobrado Kraken, the third-largest crypto exchange by spot trading volume, with “failing to register the offer and sale of their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program.” The Commission believes that such offerings are securities and therefore, fall under its regulatory purview.
As a result of the action taken by the American agency, Kraken’s staking operations have now ended in the country. The regulator also noted that the crypto exchange promised returns as high as 21% on users’ deposits but did not register the same with the SEC.
“Kraken not only offered investors outsized returns untethered to any economic realities, but also retained the right to pay them no returns at all,” said the SEC’s Division of Enforcement director, Gurbir Grewal. “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.”
The crypto community on Twitter did not support the regulator’s decision with one user declarando that they failed to form policies and gave “zero guidance” on what compliance means.
A SEC também observou em um postagem no Twitter that two Kraken entities, Payward Ventures Inc and Payward Trading Ltd, have “agreed to immediately cease offering or selling securities through crypto asset staking services or staking programs and pay $30 million in disgorgement, interest, and penalties.”
SEC’s complaint notes that Kraken has been providing crypto staking services in the United States since 2019 and since then, it has promoted the same as an “easy-to-use platform and benefits that derive from Kraken’s efforts on behalf of investors.” The regulator added that staking crypto coins with the exchange meant users’ losing access to their coins anymore. This meant additional risks for investors and “very little protection.”
On the other hand, it is also crucial to note that Kraken released a blog post on Feb. 9, revealing that it will “continue to offer staking services for non-U.S. clients through a separate Kraken subsidiary.”
“Starting today, Kraken will automatically unstake all U.S. client assets enrolled in the on-chain staking program. These assets will no longer earn staking rewards. This applies to all staked assets except for staked ether (ETH), which will be unstaked after the Shanghai upgrade. U.S. clients will not be able to stake any additional assets, including ETH,” said the exchange.
Conforme relatado anteriormente pela Bitnation, A Kraken também pagou uma multa de cerca de $362.000 to the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for the violation of sanctions that were imposed against Iranian people. The exchange also agreed to “invest” $100,000 in some additional sanctions compliance controls along with training its staff and implementing technical controls to assist in sanctions detection.
Jornalista cripto com mais de 3 anos de experiência em DeFi, NFT, metaverso, etc. Parth trabalhou com grandes meios de comunicação no mundo cripto e financeiro e ganhou experiência e conhecimento em cultura criptográfica depois de sobreviver a mercados de baixa e alta ao longo dos anos.
