By Chris Prentice
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Kraken, one of the largest digital asset exchanges in the United States, will pay a $1.25 million civil fine to settle U.S. charges it illegally offered certain transactions in digital assets, including Bitcoin.
From June 2020 to July 2021, Payward Ventures Inc, doing business as Kraken, offered margined retail commodity transactions in digital assets to U.S. customers who were not eligible, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said in a statement. The firm also acted as a futures commission merchant without registering as one with the agency.
Kraken, which did not admit or deny the CFTC’s findings, cooperated with the investigation and was “proactive” in seeking compliance guidance, the CFTC said. The firm agreed to cease and desist from further violations.
“We are committed to working with regulators to try to ensure the rules governing digital assets create a level playing field globally,” a Kraken spokesperson said in a statement.
In a concurring statement about the settlement, CFTC Commissioner Dawn Stump said existing agency guidance does not go far enough to establish clear rules for cryptocurrency firms seeking to offer retail commodity transactions involving certain digital assets.
(Reporting by Chris Prentice; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Dan Grebler)
