{"id":75157,"date":"2026-07-09T05:24:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T05:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/kraken-wins-22-million-arbitration-as-arjun-sethi-calls-for-clear-crypto-rules\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T05:24:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T05:24:37","slug":"kraken-wins-22-million-arbitration-as-arjun-sethi-calls-for-clear-crypto-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/kraken-wins-22-million-arbitration-as-arjun-sethi-calls-for-clear-crypto-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Kraken Wins $22 Million Arbitration as Arjun Sethi Calls for Clear Crypto Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"@container mb-[25px] rounded-sm overflow-clip py-0.5 pr-0.5 pl-2.5 bg-success-100\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col gap-m overflow-clip rounded-[6px] !bg-success-10 p-3 @[420px]:p-m\">\n<h2 class=\"m-0 flex items-center gap-s text-[19px] !text-[#1c1c1c] md:text-[20px]\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"10\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 10\" fill=\"none\" class=\"shrink-0 text-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M1 1.5h14\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><path d=\"M1 8.5h10\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><\/svg><span>Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"m-0 flex list-none flex-col gap-m pl-0\">\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Payward won a $22M award and asked Delaware court to enter judgment against Mazars USA.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Kraken says Mazars\u2019 exit reflected 2023 crypto regulatory pressure and debanking concerns.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Arjun Sethi urged Congress to pass the CLARITY Act for clearer U.S. crypto rules.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Kraken Asks Delaware Court to Enforce $22 Million Award Against Mazars USA<\/h2>\n<p>Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has asked the Delaware Court of Chancery to enter final judgment against Mazars USA after an arbitrator awarded the <span>crypto<\/span> exchange operator $22 million.<\/p>\n<p>The dispute stems from Mazars\u2019 decision to withdraw from Kraken\u2019s nearly completed 2022 audit in December 2023. According to Payward Co-CEO Arjun Sethi, Mazars had audited Kraken for three years, issued two clean opinions, and was days away from completing a third.<\/p>\n<p>Sethi said the auditor confirmed in writing that it did not disagree with Kraken\u2019s management, had no concerns about the company\u2019s integrity, and had no findings of fraud.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn audit is not a favor. It is oxygen,\u201d Sethi wrote in his <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.kraken.com\/news\/industry-news\/setting-the-record-straight-mazars-arbitration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">blogpost<\/a>. \u201cBanking relationships, licenses, counterparties, and regulators all depend on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mazars cited legal uncertainty, including a recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaint against Kraken. That case was later dismissed with prejudice, with no penalties, no admission of wrongdoing and no required changes to Kraken\u2019s business.<\/p>\n<h2>Kraken Links Mazars Exit to Regulatory Pressure<\/h2>\n<p>Sethi argued that Mazars\u2019 departure was not an isolated commercial decision but part of what critics have called Operation Chokepoint 2.0, a period of informal pressure on banks, auditors and service providers working with lawful <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/a-quick-introduction-to-crypto\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">crypto<\/a> firms.<\/p>\n<p>He pointed to Mazars Group\u2019s December 2022 decision to halt proof-of-reserves work for the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/a-quick-introduction-to-crypto\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">crypto<\/a> sector and remove related reports from its website. In his view, the firm was not walking away from weak clients, but from an industry that had become politically costly to serve.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will say what I believe plainly: Mazars was pressured,\u201d Sethi wrote.<\/p>\n<p>His post also cited actions by U.S. regulators in 2023, including a joint statement from the Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC warning banks about crypto-related risks. Documents later released through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit showed the FDIC sent at least 25 letters to 24 banks urging them to pause or avoid expanding <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/a-quick-introduction-to-crypto\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">crypto<\/a> activity.<\/p>\n<p>Sethi also referenced the SEC\u2019s SAB 121 accounting guidance, the Federal Reserve\u2019s denial of Custodia\u2019s master account and the shutdown of Silvergate\u2019s SEN and Signature\u2019s Signet settlement networks.<\/p>\n<h2>Sethi Calls for CLARITY Act<\/h2>\n<p>Much of that regulatory posture has since been reversed. SAB 121 was rescinded, the banking regulators withdrew their joint statement, and congressional investigations found that regulators used vague rules and informal pressure to steer banks away from digital asset firms.<\/p>\n<p>Sethi said the damage was not limited to companies. He described being personally debanked and said portfolio companies at Tribe Capital lost banking relationships despite doing nothing wrong.<\/p>\n<p>He also cited Kraken founder Jesse Powell, whose home was raided in 2023 over a nonprofit-related dispute unrelated to Kraken or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/a-quick-introduction-to-crypto\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">crypto<\/a>. The investigation was later closed with no charges.<\/p>\n<p>The blogpost ends with a call for Congress to pass the CLARITY Act, which would create federal market-structure rules for digital assets and clarify oversight between regulators.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe won this fight,\u201d Sethi wrote. \u201cNow, our congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle need to come together to finish the bigger one. Pass the CLARITY Act.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/kraken-wins-22-million-arbitration-as-arjun-sethi-calls-for-clear-crypto-rules\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News ) Key Takeaways Payward won a $22M award and asked Delaware court to enter judgment against Mazars USA. Kraken says Mazars\u2019 exit reflected 2023 crypto regulatory pressure and debanking concerns. Arjun Sethi urged Congress to pass the CLARITY Act for clearer U.S. crypto rules. Kraken Asks Delaware Court to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3947362377,"featured_media":75158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3947362377"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}