The Australian subsidiary of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, Bit Trade, faces a hefty fine for breaching regulatory rules requiring financial products to have a clearly defined target market.
Bit Trade Fined AUD 8 Million
The Federal Court has fined Bit Trade AUD 8 million (approximately USD 5.2 million) for illegally providing credit facilities to more than 1,100 customers. According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Bit Trade failed to meet the obligation of defining a target market determination (TMD) for its margin extension product.
Regulatory Breach and Its Impact
Since October 2021, the company had been offering a margin extension product that allowed financing through digital assets, such as Bitcoin, or fiat currencies like US dollars. However, the product was launched without a target market determination, a critical regulatory document designed to ensure that the product is marketed only to suitable customers.
The court found that Bit Trade violated design and distribution requirements every time the product was issued without a TMD. ASIC reported that customers were charged over USD 7 million in fees and interest, while trading losses exceeded USD 5 million.
Significant Customer Loss
One investor reportedly lost nearly USD 4 million using the margin extension product. Judge Nicholas criticized Bit Trade’s actions, describing them as “serious and motivated by a desire to maximize revenue” while failing to comply with regulatory requirements until flagged by ASIC.
ASIC Chairman’s Statement
ASIC Chairman Joe Longo described the court’s decision as a “significant outcome” and emphasized that this is the first penalty imposed by ASIC for failing to have a TMD. Longo also highlighted that the ruling serves as a warning to digital asset firms to consider their regulatory obligations carefully.
In addition to the fine, Bit Trade has been ordered to pay ASIC’s legal costs.
Conclusion
The Bit Trade case serves as a crucial reminder for digital asset firms that failing to comply with regulatory requirements can result in severe financial penalties and loss of market trust.

#Kraken , #CryptoNewss , #Regulation , #CryptoLaw , #digitalassets

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TRUMP token gains popularity amid MAGA’s Kraken listing speculation

An official post by MAGA memecoin on X has triggered a newfound interest in the $TRUMP token. The tweet suggests that a Kraken listing could be on the way.
A mysterious post recently made on X by the official account of MAGA Memecoin has set off a breakout of TRUMP trump 2.48% MAGA, a token in the MAGA ecosystem.
The post claimed that Kraken, a well-known cryptocurrency exchange, is interested in listing the token and caused ripples in the token community.
The post included a photo showing Kraken branding adjacent to the caption, “Whose ready?” sparking speculation about the token’s listing on the exchange.
Steven Steele, MAGA Marketing Exec, stoked the hype even more. However, neither Kraken nor the MAGA team has released an official statement on the listing.
Kraken, which is known for its stringent token vetting process, has included TRUMP on its public roadmap along with a handful of other tokens.
TRUMP’s appearance on the list could signal an imminent listing, especially as MAGA‘s marketing team is gearing up for some action.
TRUMP has started to pump with community engagement
Recent price action shows increasing interest in the TRUMP token, as there has been a decline in transfer count after Dec. 8., anticipating people in the community to expect a Kraken listing.
Coupled with this, a significant divergence has been seen between active addresses and the price of the TRUMP token, since Dec. 9.
As the price dropped from Dec. 9 to Dec. 10, the number of active addresses started to rise again after a short dip.
#TrumpToken #Trump #Kraken #cryptocurrency #CryptoNews

There's a new twist in the CertiK white-hat hacking saga.Onchain records show that at an earlier date someone tried to exploit the same bug the auditor discovered in Kraken.
The bug that #Kraken said it patched had been used to exploit other centralised exchanges as early as last month, according to multiple crypto security experts.
That’s the latest development in the saga of two major crypto players, US-based exchange Kraken and auditor #CertiK .
On Wednesday, Kraken said it patched a “critical” bug that allowed millions of dollars in crypto to be erroneously withdrawn from the US-based exchange.
CertiK came under fire after it admitted to being behind the exploit of that bug. The firm withdrew $3 million from Kraken over several days in early June.
After a public back-and-forth, CertiK returned all the funds it took and called its actions a white-hat operation, meaning they ostensibly acted as ethical hackers with the intention of identifying and fixing security vulnerabilities rather than exploiting them for malicious purposes.
Onchain records first identified by security platform Hexagate, and confirmed to DL News by multiple other security researchers, show a hacker attempted to exploit other crypto exchanges  — using the same bug as early as May 17.
Those attempts came three weeks before CertiK said it found the bug on Kraken on June 5.
“We have no evidence these exchanges have been impacted,” Hexagate posted on X. “We only traced onchain evidence for similar activity.”
Centralised crypto exchanges hold a gargantuan amount of crypto on their customers’ behalf. The top five crypto exchanges that have publicly disclosed their wallet addresses hold a combined $172 billion worth of crypto, per DefiLlama data.
CertiK didn’t immediately respond to DL News’ request for comment.
Attempted exploits
The records highlighted by Hexagate show a hacker attempted to use a so-called “revert” attack to trick centralised exchanges into letting them withdraw funds.
To do that, the hacker created a smart contract that contains a transaction to deposit funds to a centralised exchange. The contract is engineered so that the main transaction succeeds but the deposit reverts.
This tricks the exchange into thinking a user has deposited funds when they haven’t. The hacker then requests a withdrawal from the exchange, debiting the fake deposit amount.
nchain records show multiple attempts to use such a contract when depositing funds to Binance took place on BNB Chain on May 17.
Between May 29 and June 5, the same address, as well as another that was funded by it, made similar attempts on OKX, BingX and Gate.io on BNB Chain, Arbitrum, and Optimism.
Is CertiK involved?
Although CertiK first disclosed the revert attack publicly, there’s no proof it was involved in those earlier attacks.
Smart contracts functions each have a so-called signature hash they can be identified by.
In the case of the revert attack contract, the signature hash isn’t available, meaning the name of the function isn’t publicly known, a security researcher who wished to remain anonymous told DL News.
This means the function name for the revert attack is known onto CertiK or someone else has used exactly the same name as well, the researcher said.

Congratulations on your cryptocurrency success! To ensure a seamless and lawful transfer of your digital assets to your bank account, follow these expert-recommended methods:
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1. Transfer your cryptocurrency (e.g., USDT) to your BiyaPay wallet.
2. Convert USDT to USD within the wallet.
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Method 2: Kraken Exchange to iFAST
1. Withdraw USDT via Kraken, a fully licensed exchange.
2. Transfer funds to British bank iFAST.
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Considerations:
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Essential Reminders:
1. Consult a Legal Advisor: Ensure compliance with tax laws and regulations in your country.
2. Verify Banking Partnerships: Confirm banks' cryptocurrency policies and transfer limits.
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By following these strategies and seeking professional guidance, you'll securely transfer your cryptocurrency wealth to your bank account, protecting your digital fortune.
#CryptocurrencyCulture #TON #bankaccountfreeze #BNBChainMemecoins #Kraken