The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control could face fines from the Kraken bitcoin exchange for violating its sanctions regime. This was reported to The New York Times by knowledgeable sources.

The investigation has been ongoing since 2019.

The publication reports that as part of internal communication, Kraken CEO Jess Powell posted a chart with verified currency accounts. This was followed by the platform having 1,522 users in Iran, 149 in Syria and 83 in Cuba. The document was later removed.

Marco Suntory, Kraken’s chief legal officer, said the company “doesn’t comment on specific discussions with regulators.” He stressed that the exchange closely monitors compliance with sanctions laws and reports potential problems to the authorities.”

In February 2022, Powell rejected the proposal to block the accounts of all users in Russia without legal requirements. He emphasized his respect for the Ukrainian people, but explained his position with libertarian values.

Recall that in April, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on the BitRiver group of companies engaged in cryptocurrency mining in the Russian Federation, the Hydra darknet market and the Garantex cryptocurrency exchange.

Earlier, Reuters reported that Binance continues to serve customers from Iran, bypassing US sanctions and a ban on doing business in that country.

In October 2021, the US Treasury issued instructions for participants in the crypto industry to comply with sanctions.

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