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Strengthening sanctions compliance: Building for scale and trust
At Kraken, we’re committed to building a secure and trusted platform for our clients. Over the past few years, we’ve significantly strengthened our global compliance framework – investing deeply in the people, processes, and systems that keep our platform secure.
We recently reached a key milestone in this journey: the completion of a multi-year effort to enhance our sanctions compliance program across the board. This achievement reflects not only our ongoing engagement with regulators but also the ongoing advancement of Kraken’s approach to risk, oversight, and operational excellence.
As part of our ongoing work with U.S. regulators, we recently completed our third and final certification with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) – an external validation of the robust controls and processes we’ve put in place to manage sanctions risk.
What powers compliance at Kraken includes:
GeoIP firewalls & VPN screening: Sophisticated tools that proactively restrict unauthorized access based on geographic and network indicators.
Comprehensive screening across the board: End-to-end product, client, and transaction-level screening to ensure real-time risk detection.
Over 100 embedded internal controls: Automated checks and balances built into every layer of Kraken’s infrastructure.
Upgraded policies, procedures, and processes: A ground-up redesign of how compliance is approached across teams and workflows.
Rigorous risk assessments, audits, and training: Regular evaluations and company-wide education to keep our defenses sharp and aligned.
Sanctions controls at every layer: Holistic safeguards integrated throughout Kraken’s architecture.
Regulatory benchmarking and licensing expansion: Tools and standards that enable smoother licensing and faster time-to-market globally.
Proactive engagement with regulators: Open, constructive dialogue that helps shape thoughtful, effective regulation.
Enhanced due diligence for investors, M&A, and product launches: Strategic compliance integrated into how we grow.
Every one of these upgrades is a step toward our larger goal: making Kraken the most trusted and secure venue for crypto. Together, these capabilities help protect our clients, strengthen trust, and reinforce Kraken’s role as a responsible industry leader.
Built for scale, designed for trust
Strong compliance isn’t just about risk reduction – it’s a strategic advantage. With these improvements, Kraken is ideally positioned to:
Expand our business into new countries and with new products.
Foster stronger banking relationships.
Navigate regulatory environments with confidence.
Reduce audit and operational risk.
Support faster, safer growth across markets.
The compliance infrastructure we’ve built is scalable, resilient, and dynamic – designed not only to meet today’s demands but to anticipate those of tomorrow.
Source: blog.kraken.com
