Kraken pays over US$360K to US Treasury to settle Iran sanctions allegations
U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has agreed to pay over US$362,000 to settle claims that it violated sanctions against Iran, the U.S. Treasury Department announced on Monday.
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Fast facts
Kraken violated U.S. sanctions by allowing Iranian users to conduct transactions worth more than US$1.68 million between October 2015 and June 2019, according to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
U.S. goods, technology and services are restricted from export to Iran under a broad set of sanctions.
OFAC said Kraken didn’t appropriately implement tools that identify users’ geolocations and IP addresses, blocking those from sanctioned countries.
The settlement represents the Treasury’s latest crackdown on the cryptocurrency industry. Crypto exchange Bittrex Inc. paid around US$30 million to the Treasury in October to settle allegations related to sanctions and anti-money laundering laws.
Kraken will invest US$100,000 in its sanctions compliance controls, including training and technical measures to assist in sanctions screening, as part of the settlement agreement.
About six months prior to the settlement, Kraken lost its chief global compliance officer Steven Christie to rival cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
See related article: Crypto exchange Kraken reportedly under investigation for Iran sanctions breach