The US Securities and Exchange Commission accused crypto exchange Kraken of a wide range of securities law violations, less than a year after unveiling a $30 million settlement with the firm over other alleged conduct.
In its latest salvo against the crypto sector, the regulator claimed Monday that Kraken commingled customer assets with its own and at times paid expenses from bank accounts that held customer cash. The SEC also alleged that the firm was operating as an exchange, broker, dealer and a clearing agency — all without the proper registration.
Representatives for Kraken didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We allege that Kraken made a business decision to reap hundreds of millions of dollars from investors rather than coming into compliance with the securities laws,” Gurbir Grewal, the SEC’s enforcement chief, said in a statement. “That decision resulted in a business model rife with conflicts of interest that placed investors’ funds at risk.”
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, is separate from the regulator’s February settlement with Kraken. In that order, Kraken paid $30 million to settle SEC allegations that the firm’s staking service was an illegal sale of securities, and agreed to end the service in the US.
