US and Iran are among the most trending topics of discussion of late. On one hand, the two nations are set to face each other in the FIFA World Cup tomorrow. On the other, the latter has demanded the former team be “kicked out” of the tournament owing to the flag controversy.
Well, even in the crypto space, a development pertaining to the said nations has shaped up. Per an Enforcement Release by the US Treasury Department, crypto exchange Kraken has agreed to pay over $362,000 to settle claims that it violated sanctions against Iran. A statement highlighted,
“Kraken, a Delaware-incorporated virtual currency exchange with operations in the United States and elsewhere, has agreed to pay $362,158.70 to settle its potential civil liability for apparent violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations.”
The release further outlined,
“As part of its settlement with OFAC, Kraken also has agreed to invest an additional $100,000 in certain sanctions compliance controls.“
Also Read: Kraken follows Crypto.com and ends ties with Russian users
Kraken Fostered Txns Worth $1.68 Million
According to the Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control [OFAC], Kraken violated US sanctions by allowing Iranian users to conduct transactions worth more than $1.68 million in the period between October 2015 and June 2019. In the said span of time, the crypto exchange processed more than 826 transactions that fell into the sanction violation category.
Kraken maintained controls intended to prevent users from initially opening an account in a jurisdiction subject to sanctions. However, at the time of the apparent violations, the crypto exchange did not implement IP address blocking on transactional activity across its platform.
Elucidating on the same, the release revealed,
“According to IP address data, account holders who established their accounts outside of sanctioned jurisdictions appear to have accessed their accounts and transacted on Kraken’s platform from a sanctioned jurisdiction.“