In an effort to steer the trade in belief and transparency on our mission to speed up the adoption of cryptocurrency, we’re excited to launch our 2022 Transparency Report.

The 2022 Transparency Report offers a abstract of how we shield our purchasers’ privateness and monetary freedom whereas complying with the authorized requests we frequently obtain from companies across the globe. 

From an NFT market to a skilled buying and selling interface, Kraken provides quite a lot of crypto services and products to over 9 million purchasers in 190 totally different nations. Final yr, Kraken acquired knowledge requests from legislation enforcement and authorities companies situated in over 60 totally different nations. Whereas these requesting companies had been unfold throughout the federal, state, and native ranges, a lot of the requests acquired had been from legislation enforcement companies.

Kraken receives all kinds of authorized calls for for data together with subpoenas, summonses, court docket orders, and different statutory requests. Kraken has carried out strict insurance policies and procedures to guard consumer privateness, that are meticulously adopted earlier than any consumer knowledge is produced. Kraken offers knowledge when we’ve got a authorized obligation to adjust to the demand. You will need to notice that failure to conform when we’ve got a authorized obligation to take action may end up in civil or prison penalties in opposition to Kraken.

Key takeaways

• Kraken acquired a complete of three,705 requests through the reporting interval, a 51% improve over final yr.
• 71% of the requests got here from outdoors of the U.S. for a complete of two,624 non-U.S. requests. U.S.-based requests totalled 1,081.
• A lot of the legislation enforcement requests got here from the U.S., Germany, Nice Britain, and Spain.
• We noticed 79% of our U.S. requests come from legislation enforcement for a complete of 852 requests from U.S.-based legislation enforcement companies.

Fifty-one % improve within the variety of legislation enforcement and authorities requests in 2022

The variety of requests acquired in 2022 represented a 51% improve from the prior yr. This continues the pattern of a steadily growing quantity of requests we’ve got seen over the previous a number of years. 

As an instance, the yr over yr proportion improve from 2019 in comparison with 2022 is over 420%. Regardless of the super improve in requests, Kraken continues to emphasise the safety of our purchasers’ knowledge by means of our adherence to sturdy insurance policies and cautious observance of authorized obligations.

With a purpose to meet the requests of those companies in an environment friendly {and professional} method, we proceed to develop and strengthen our compliance program. Over the previous yr, we expanded our Compliance Staff headcount by 55% with a view to meet the calls for of the worldwide community of companies requesting data from Kraken. 

Kraken’s Compliance Staff consists of seasoned AML professionals, attorneys, former legislation enforcement officers, ACAMS licensed analysts, and lots of different professionals with cryptocurrency associated accreditations. The staff works to make sure Kraken conducts applicable investigations and monitoring for our purchasers and the trade.

U.S.-based companies problem probably the most requests

As has been the case for the previous a number of years, U.S.-based companies proceed to problem probably the most requests. U.S. requests (1,081) accounted for about 29% of the requests acquired by Kraken. The opposite high requesting nations in sequential order had been Germany (784), Nice Britain (385), Spain (272), and France (251). These 5 nations additionally issued probably the most requests in 2021.

Highest variety of requests issued by the FBI

Of all the 60+ legislation enforcement and authorities companies making requests, the FBI persistently has issued probably the most requests for the previous a number of years. They continued this pattern once more in 2022. The FBI requests symbolize roughly 31% (332) of the U.S. based mostly companies’ requests. The following two main U.S.-based companies had been the DHS-ICE (145) and the DEA (109).

“For 2023, Kraken is reaffirming our dedication to working alongside legislation enforcement and authorities companies with a view to weed out criminals and dangerous actors on this area. However, we’re equally dedicated to offering the perfect service doable for our purchasers, as we work to safeguard their funds and privateness.” mentioned David Zacks, Senior Director of Compliance at Kraken. “This years Transparency Report as soon as once more provides a deeper degree of readability into how Kraken executes on our mission to speed up the adoption of cryptocurrencies, whereas additionally defending the monetary freedom of our purchasers throughout our varied services and products.”

Even with the numerous improve within the quantity of requests, and legislation enforcement and authorities companies’ elevated scrutiny of the cryptocurrency trade, Kraken will proceed to work diligently to guard our purchasers’ privateness whereas nonetheless responding to the numerous legislation enforcement and authorities requests we obtain.

These supplies are for normal data functions solely and should not funding recommendation or a suggestion or solicitation to purchase, promote or maintain any cryptoasset or to have interaction in any particular buying and selling technique. Some crypto merchandise and markets are unregulated, and also you is probably not protected by authorities compensation and/or regulatory safety schemes. The unpredictable nature of the cryptoasset markets can result in lack of funds. Tax could also be payable on any return and/or on any improve within the worth of your cryptoassets and it is best to search unbiased recommendation in your taxation place. For extra data, please see our Phrases of Service.