The SEC has filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, for operating an unregistered securities exchange, broker, dealer, and clearing agency, the SEC announced Nov. 20.
The SEC alleges Kraken reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal profits since September 2018, stripped investor protections, put assets at risk, and commingled customer assets.
In addition, Kraken was also accused of providing an order aggregation market, engaging in securities trading and acting as an intermediary in transaction settlement, abusing internal controls and maintaining shoddy records .
The SEC is seeking injunctive relief, injunctions, and penalties against Kraken for violating the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Notably, in February of this year, Kraken agreed to cease offering or selling securities through crypto asset staking services and paid a $30 million civil penalty.
