VASPCheck

VASP Compliance Summary — Kraken

Payward, Inc. · Exchange · United States

Exported 2026-08-25

Data reviewed 2026-08-05

Overview

Compliance snapshot

Overall regulatory statusAuthorized

EU MiCA statusMiCA authorized

MiCA CASP authorization — CBI, Ireland — EU/EEA passporting live
FinCEN MSB registered (US); FCA cryptoasset registration (UK)
Trustpilot 4.0/5 · 8,600 reviews
No customer-asset loss event on record

Low concern

MiCA CASP authorization in Ireland plus long-standing US registrations; historic enforcement matters are closed and disclosed.

Authorizations

Licenses & registrations

Jurisdiction	Regulator	Authorization	Status	Reference	Granted
Ireland	Central Bank of Ireland CBI · https://registers.centralbank.ie	MiCA CASP authorization	Authorized	C-IE-2025-0204	2025-02-26
United States	Financial Crimes Enforcement Network FinCEN · https://www.fincen.gov/msb-registrant-search	MSB registration	Registered	31000-1104-7710	2014-02-05
United Kingdom	Financial Conduct Authority FCA · https://register.fca.org.uk	Cryptoasset firm registration (AML)	Registered	FRN 928768	2023-07-06
Australia	Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre AUSTRAC · https://www.austrac.gov.au/business/registers	Digital currency exchange registration	Registered	DCE100612-001	2019-03-14

Reputation

Reputation scores

Trustpilot-style score4.0 / 5

Reviews8,600

App Store4.5

Google Play4.2

12-month trendflat

Press sentiment (12m)+5 / ~3 / −2

Media

Recent press

Date	Source	Headline & summary	Sentiment
2026-07-09	Bloomberg	Exchange adds regulated derivatives venue in Europe A MiFID-licensed subsidiary began offering listed crypto derivatives to professional clients.	Positive
2026-05-21	Reuters	Proof-of-reserves attestation published for tenth cycle An independent accounting firm confirmed one-to-one client balances for major assets.	Positive
2026-03-03	CoinDesk	Staking product relaunched for EU users The service returned under revised disclosures aligned with EU rules.	Neutral
2025-12-16	Financial Times	Fee compression squeezes exchange revenues Industry-wide fee pressure weighed on trading income.	Negative
2025-09-30	Reuters	Firm appoints new group compliance officer The hire came from a large European banking group.	Positive

Risk events

Incidents & enforcement

Date	Type	Amount	Description
2023-02-09	Fine	USD 30,000,000	US settlement over unregistered staking-as-a-service offering; the US product was discontinued.
2022-11-28	Fine	USD 362,159	OFAC settlement regarding historical sanctions screening gaps.
2021-05-19	Outage	—	Trading degradation during an extreme volatility event.

Profile

Key facts

Founded2011

Websitekraken.com

Fiat currenciesUSD, EUR, GBP, CHF, CAD, AUD

Proof of reservesYes

Custody modelSegregated cold storage with periodic attestation

Legal entitiesPayward, Inc. (US) · Payward Europe Digital Solutions (IE) · Payward Ltd (UK)

Kraken

AuthorizedMiCA authorizedESMA register

Payward, Inc.

Exchange🇺🇸 United States Founded 2011kraken.com

Visit website

Last reviewed

2026-08-05

Compliance snapshot

MiCA CASP authorization — CBI, Ireland — EU/EEA passporting live
FinCEN MSB registered (US); FCA cryptoasset registration (UK)
Trustpilot 4.0/5 · 8,600 reviews
No customer-asset loss event on record

Overall concern

Low concern

MiCA CASP authorization in Ireland plus long-standing US registrations; historic enforcement matters are closed and disclosed.

Regulatory

Licenses & registrations

Jurisdiction	Regulator	Authorization	Status	Reference	Granted
🇮🇪 Ireland	Central Bank of IrelandCBI	MiCA CASP authorization	Authorized	C-IE-2025-0204	2025-02-26
🇺🇸 United States	Financial Crimes Enforcement NetworkFinCEN	MSB registration	Registered	31000-1104-7710	2014-02-05
🇬🇧 United Kingdom	Financial Conduct AuthorityFCA	Cryptoasset firm registration (AML)	Registered	FRN 928768	2023-07-06
🇦🇺 Australia	Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis CentreAUSTRAC	Digital currency exchange registration	Registered	DCE100612-001	2019-03-14

🇮🇪 Ireland
Authorized
MiCA CASP authorization
Central Bank of IrelandCBI
C-IE-2025-02042025-02-26
Verify at source
🇺🇸 United States
Registered
MSB registration
Financial Crimes Enforcement NetworkFinCEN
31000-1104-77102014-02-05
Verify at source
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Registered
Cryptoasset firm registration (AML)
Financial Conduct AuthorityFCA
FRN 9287682023-07-06
Verify at source
🇦🇺 Australia
Registered
Digital currency exchange registration
Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis CentreAUSTRAC
DCE100612-0012019-03-14
Verify at source

User signals

Reputation

Trustpilot-style score

4.0/ 5

4.0

8,600 reviews

Stable (12m)

App ratings

App Store: 4.5
Google Play: 4.2

Press sentiment (12m)

Positive5

Neutral3

Negative2

Media

Recent press

2026-07-09
Exchange adds regulated derivatives venue in EuropePositive
Bloomberg — A MiFID-licensed subsidiary began offering listed crypto derivatives to professional clients.
2026-05-21
Proof-of-reserves attestation published for tenth cyclePositive
Reuters — An independent accounting firm confirmed one-to-one client balances for major assets.
2026-03-03
Staking product relaunched for EU usersNeutral
CoinDesk — The service returned under revised disclosures aligned with EU rules.
2025-12-16
Fee compression squeezes exchange revenuesNegative
Financial Times — Industry-wide fee pressure weighed on trading income.
2025-09-30
Firm appoints new group compliance officerPositive
Reuters — The hire came from a large European banking group.

History

Incidents & enforcement

2023-02-09FineUSD 30,000,000
US settlement over unregistered staking-as-a-service offering; the US product was discontinued.
2022-11-28FineUSD 362,159
OFAC settlement regarding historical sanctions screening gaps.
2021-05-19Outage
Trading degradation during an extreme volatility event.