Kraken is one of the most well-known cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, with over 6 million users in 190 countries, founded in 2011 and with a wide range of services, from trading, to staking, futures, OTC and others.
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On March 31, Kraken announced two decisions that had a disruptive effect on the Italian cryptocurrency market:
1. Cancellation of the affiliate program
Kraken's affiliate program allowed users to earn commissions for every user who signed up through their referral link.
2. KYC required again
Kraken has communicated to several Italian users the need to proceed with an update of the KYC documents. It appears automatically when you log in and will start from April 6, 2024.
Reasons
The basis of these two decisions, although there are no official declarations yet, may be multiple:
- Greater compliance with anti-money laundering regulations (+ MiCA coming in December): the new KYC requests could be a way for the platform to strengthen its compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) regulations, in particular in view of the entry into force of the new European AML/CFT Directive.
- Cost reduction
- Strategic reorganization: The two decisions could be part of a broader strategic reorganization of Kraken, which could include withdrawing from some markets or launching new products and services.
The impact is limited and not very harmful, although it cannot be described as pleasant.
A similar situation can also be expected from other exchanges considering the MiCA coming in December 2024 and the pressures related to AML/CFT regulations.
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