If you follow crypto you may have recently heard about the New York Attorney General requesting information from crypto exchanges. One of which was Kraken. Majority of the exchanges compiled but one in particular is making a big public ordeal on the request. That man is Kraken CEO Jesse Powell. The request was that exchanges be more transparent. Thirteen exchanges, one of which was Kraken, were given a questionnaire that consisted of 34 questions. The deadline was 2 weeks.]

If you have not heard of them, a fun filled fact for you is that Kraken is the largest exchange in the world based on euro volume. Apparently Jesse was insulted by the request. In order to comply he said resources would need to be pulled from providing customer service and roadmap goals that were promised to his user base. He simply refused to answer. The best part is he told the US Government to make an appointment. Classic and will not be forgotten. Usually it is the other way around!

Kraken is working at building an exchange that will bridge crypto with the traditional financial institution. He listed specifically his reasons which are:

1. The deadline is unreasonable.
2. Publication of the request, lack of any communication prior to the request and as they have no jurisdiction over his exchange he felt was more of a publicity stunt.
3. Request was not prepared. He called it a fishing expedition.
4. Most of the infp was provided to the NYDFS and Fincen prior.
5. Did they check the website? Some of which is present.
6. They asked for sensitive and confidential information.
7. They wanted trade secret information which is kept secret because of the competitors in the space.
8. He thinks the information would not be kept private because the government has a clear record on being hacked.
9. Kraken has no New York Clients.

We are not to sure what the NYAG was looking for or exactly why the request was sent. Most were happy to see the request! Can they make him comply? Doubtful, but it will be interesting to see how this one pans out. Most do not have the balls to stand up to the government so we applaud him on that point. We love the fact that he did not want to break promises and get derailed from delivering promises to his clients that utilize the exchange. To be honest, we do not use Kraken very often but will keep it on the back burner. What are your thoughts? Do you agree with his actions? We would love to hear your thoughts?