Crypto exchange Kraken settles U.S. investigation over alleged Iran sanctions violations

Bitcoin exchange According to a report released on Monday by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department, Kraken has agreed to pay a fee to resolve civil liability relating to alleged violations of Iranian sanctions.

Kraken will pay around $362,000 and "invest an extra $100,000 in some sanctions compliance mechanisms" as part of the settlement with OFAC.

Since the popularity of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets has increased recently, officials are now responsible for assessing risks in a mostly unregulated industry.

Kraken's chief legal officer, Marco Santori, said in a statement sent by email to Reuters, "Kraken is glad to have resolved this situation, which we identified, freely self-reported and immediately corrected."

Kraken has already strengthened its compliance processes "even before entering into this resolution," Santori continued.

The OFAC statement claims that between around October 2015 and June 2019, Kraken's platform handled 826 transactions for users based in Iran.

Despite not implementing IP address blocking based on geolocation across its platform at the time, Kraken retained safeguards meant to stop users from registering an account while in a country that was subject to sanctions, the statement continued.

The Treasury Department also levied a $29 million punishment against the cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex Inc. in October for "apparent violations" of laws against money laundering and imposing sanctions on particular nations.