Crypto▼ Bearish
Dutch Crypto Exchange Knaken Declared Bankrupt by Rotterdam Court
Rotterdam court rules Knaken bankrupt after €7M in customer funds vanish. Exchange failed to secure MiCA license, lost access for 30,000 users. FIOD raids site.
Continue with
A Rotterdam court has declared Knaken, a Dutch cryptocurrency exchange, bankrupt after prosecutors alleged €7 million in customer funds went missing.
The court found a "significant deficit" in customer holdings and said Knaken failed to inform users about the shortfall. Customers had already lost access to the platform, blocking them from discovering the situation themselves, the court said.
Knaken argued against bankruptcy, proposing instead to distribute available funds among customers. The court concluded the exchange lacked sufficient assets to fully repay creditors and rejected the proposal.
Knaken was founded in Rotterdam in 2017 and grew rapidly during the crypto bull market, reaching about 45 employees. The exchange ran aggressive marketing campaigns, including sponsorship deals with Dutch Eredivisie football clubs, and positioned itself as an easy-to-use broker supporting multiple cryptocurrencies.