Kraken Wins $22M Arbitration Award Over Auditor Withdrawal

Sethi also urged Congress to pass the CLARITY Act, saying a dedicated crypto market structure law would provide clearer operating rules for digital asset companies instead of relying on enforcement actions.

Offering his own reaction on X, Kraken co-CEO Dave Ripley said the arbitration case represented only part of what happened during that period. Ripley described the $22 million award as compensation for financial harm that he said resulted from a coordinated campaign against the crypto industry.

Meanwhile, U.S. regulators have continued reviewing banking oversight tied to digital assets. In February, the Federal Reserve requested public feedback on a proposal to remove "reputation risk" from bank supervision after its 2025 directive instructing supervisors to stop pressuring banks to close customer accounts over reputational concerns. Critics of the previous framework argued the proposal could help end practices associated with Operation Chokepoint 2.0.

Even as the legal dispute moves through the Delaware court, Kraken has continued adding new institutional and trading products.

The exchange recently began allowing eligible users outside the United States to use selected tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds as collateral for futures and margin trading on Kraken Pro. The launch covers 10 xStocks assets, including SPYx, QQQx, AAPLx, GOOGLx, TSLAx, NVDAx, HOODx, MSTRx, GLDx and CRCLx, allowing traders to back leveraged crypto positions without selling those holdings.

The collateral initiative follows other recent product launches. In May, Payward partnered with Franklin Templeton to introduce tokenized money market products for collateral and cash management on Kraken. A month later, Kraken and Maple launched an institutional crypto lending structure using a bankruptcy-remote vehicle for crypto-backed loans.

Founded in 2011, Kraken has also been preparing for a public listing. The company disclosed in November 2025 that it had confidentially submitted a draft Form S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Reports published in May said the IPO may be delayed until 2027 because of weaker crypto market conditions and ongoing cost-cutting efforts.