Kraken

Kraken is a crypto trading platform founded in the United States, through which users can trade cryptocurrencies. The company was founded in 2011 and is one of the world’s established providers in the field of crypto trading. Within the group of companies, there is a banking license in the United States for a banking company specializing in digital assets.

Services for European customers are provided via Group companies within the European Union in particular via companies based in Ireland, which are subject to the European regulatory requirements (MiCA) for crypto service providers.

Which company becomes the user’s contractual partner in individual cases is determined by the respective terms of use and may depend in particular on the customer’s place of residence and the specific account structure.

At Kraken, restrictions are often associated with security-related measures or internal testing processes. In particular, users are faced with the notification that they are confronted with a notification that their account is temporarily blocked  (“temporarily suspended“) or that payouts are deactivated.

Typically, individual functions are suspended while the account remains accessible. In the further course, reference is often made to an ongoing review. A specific time frame is not always given.

Communication takes place regularly via support tickets and subsequent e-mail correspondence. Kraken has a fundamental interest in good customer relationships.

In practice, both security-related triggers – such as anomalies in the account or changes to security-relevant settings – and audit-related requirements can lead to such measures.

It is not always clear to those affected which specific conditions must be met for the restriction to be lifted.

If no remedial action is taken over a longer period of time, targeted communication with a lawyer can highlight the rights of the data subject and decisively strengthen its position in the environment of numerous support requests and legal audit requirements.