The growing popularity of crypto is attracting the attention of regulators and law enforcement. According to a report published by Kraken, data requests from American authorities jumped by 30% in 2023.
Growing pressure from US authorities
According to data provided by Kraken, one of the main crypto exchanges, American authorities are at the origin of almost 30% of data requests received in 2023. With no less than 1,393 requests, government agencies US are pushing for more information from these platforms.
The FBI particularly stands out, accounting for more than a third of requests. THE requests emanating from the SEC, the stock market watchdog, also attract attention: they represent 60% of requests from American regulators, although still in the minority in number.
Taking a step back, Kraken recorded nearly 5,000 data requests last year, from 69 countries in total. An overall increase of 33% compared to 2022.
Some countries stand out for spectacular jumps, such as the British Virgin Islands (+400%) or Australia (+341%). These statistics clearly reflect a tightening of policies against cryptos.
Same story with Coinbase. The American stock exchange received more than 13,000 requests over the period October 2022 – September 2023.
Crypto platforms torn between compliance and privacy
It is difficult for the moment to know exactly what data Kraken and Coinbase agree to share with the authorities. But the two crypto giants show their desire to collaborate, at least to a certain extent.
Coinbase has stated its intention to offer “anonymous or aggregated data.” Likewise, Kraken has affirmed its commitment to only communicating information about its users when it is legally obliged to do so.
The challenge for these exchange platforms is therefore to find the subtle balance between the protection of their customers’ personal data and the need to respond to requests from the competent authorities. A complex balancing act, likely to become even more difficult in the future under the growing pressure of requests for information.
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