Kraken, a U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, agreed on Monday to pay more than $360,000 to the Treasury Department to settle accusations of sanctions violations involving virtual currency transactions by users in Iran.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Kraken, the second-largest crypto exchange by volume in the United States, had agreed to a settlement for enabling nearly $1.7 million of transactions to individuals who appeared to be in Iran between October 2015 and June 2019. The United States imposed sanctions against Iran in 1979, prohibiting the export of goods or services to people or entities in the country.
In its statement, the office said the maximum civil monetary penalty for the violations could be more than $270 million but determined that the settlement would be much less because Kraken had reported the potential violations. In addition, the company agreed to spend an additional $100,000 on new compliance controls.
Source: U.S. Crypto Exchange Kraken Settles With Treasury Dept. – The New York Times
