USA is (Currently) Not The Perfect Location For Crypto Businesses: Kraken Sees 300% Increase of Received Law Enforcement Requests in 2018

One of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges Kraken has revealed its 2018 Transparency report prepared by the company’s Compliance team. The exchange has received a total of 475 law enforcement requests in 2018.

The US at the Forefront

Kraken shared an infographic, displaying the overall number of law enforcement requests it has received throughout the years.

Peek at our Compliance team's 2018 Transparency Report. You can see why many businesses choose to block US users. Cost of handling subpoenas (regardless of licenses) is quickly becoming a barrier to entry. Inquiries up 3x YoY. pic.twitter.com/YbyLEqhOUf

— Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) January 5, 2019

According to the report, the number of requests received in 2018 is almost 300% higher than that in 2017 (160). Authorities issue the majority of the requests (315) within the US. Second is the UK with 61, followed by Germany with 34 and France with 20.

Take Turns

The infographic also reveals another fairly alarming fact. In the US alone, a total of 11 authorities are going the length to enforce their pieces of legislation upon the cryptocurrency market.

This results in mounting pressure not only on cryptocurrency exchanges but on users as well, as the increasing costs of running a cryptocurrency business will ultimately take their toll.

FBI’s Increased Scrutiny

The FBI is amongst the authorities which are topping Kraken’s charts in received subpoenas.

It appears that the Bureau is increasing its scrutiny towards the industry. In June, Bloomberg reported that it has 130 cryptocurrency-related investigations.

However, a supervisory special agent from the Bureau Kyle Armstrong outlined that their number is relatively small, compared to other fields:

“There are thousands of cases in the bureau, so it is a small sliver at this point.”