In its usual manner, the highly popular crypto exchange Kraken just released its latest compliance team’s transparency report for last year. The 2019 transparency report is targeted at the global law enforcement requests for the just-concluded business year.
Kraken happily took to its Twitter account to share a general picture of the past year with regard to the exchange’s brushes with law enforcement agencies. A sneak peek at the report shows that law enforcement requests to the firm grew by 49% in the past year (2019), rising up to 710 from 475 of the previous year, 2018. This figure gives it a new all-time high since the crypto exchange’s inception.
Of the 710 information requests received from several law enforcement agencies across the globe, Kraken proudly stated that the firm completely satisfied 62%, including those with no related client accounts.
Additionally, the snapshot shows that the information requests received in 2019 had impacted 1,222 accounts. Note: These implicated accounts are not exclusive to any particular geographic location.
Interestingly, the United States is leading yet again. Although down 5% compared to the 2018 stats, law enforcement agencies in the United States still maintain the top position among others.
The U.S. in the Lead for Requests from the Crypto Exchange
A close look at the snapshot reveals that the United States accounts for a total of 432 information requests received in 2019. This is more than half of the entire information requests received in the entire year. Shedding more light on the requests, Kraken explains that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) holds the highest request so far, accounting for 116 of the 432 information requests received from US law enforcement agencies.
Following closely behind is the Drug and Enforcement Administration (DEA), racking up 73 of the total information requests. A combined number of 65 requests was gained by the Homeland Security Investigations together with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
With the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) being at the forefront of virtually all crypto cases, of course, we were eager to see how many information requests the agencies sent out to Kraken. Well, the answer is 20 and 29 respectively.
While the U.S. seems to be topping the chart, Kraken reassured the general public the other geographical locations are coming up strong.
“Team America still ahead with 61% of total requests, down from 66% last year. Other geos gaining fast. Trend is obvious. Costs are increasing, even in a relatively flat market.”
