Kraken bags $22M from ex-auditor Mazars, calls it payback for Operation Chokepoint 2.0 🦑

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has won a $22 million arbitration award against its former auditor Mazars USA and asked the Delaware Court of Chancery to enter judgment on the award, according to a letter published Tuesday by co-CEO Arjun Sethi. Payward said Mazars withdrew from the exchange's nearly completed 2022 audit despite finding no fraud, raising no concerns about management's integrity and reporting no disagreements with the company. "An audit is not a favor. It is oxygen," Sethi wrote, adding that independent audits are essential for obtaining banking services, licenses and other business relationships.

Sethi characterized Mazars' resignation as part of Operation Chokepoint 2.0, a campaign he described as pressuring banks, auditors and other institutions to cut ties with lawful crypto companies. The letter cited 2023 regulatory developments as evidence, including joint guidance from US banking regulators, the Securities and Exchange Commission's since-rescinded Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121, and the collapse of crypto-focused banking networks Silvergate SEN and Signature's Signet. Sethi also urged Congress to pass the CLARITY Act, arguing that a comprehensive market structure framework would provide clearer rules for digital asset companies and reduce reliance on enforcement actions.

Kraken co-CEO Dave Ripley said on X Tuesday that "this story is worth surfacing despite its PTSD-inducing nature," adding that "only a fraction of the stories from that era have ever been told." Ripley described the $22 million arbitration award as compensation for financial harm caused by what he called a coordinated campaign against the crypto industry. US regulators continue to address crypto-related debanking; in February, the Federal Reserve sought public feedback on a proposal to formally remove "reputation risk" from bank supervision, following its 2025 directive to stop pressuring banks to close customer accounts over reputational concerns.

Founded in 2011, Kraken has been widely expected to pursue an initial public offering. In November 2025, the company said it had confidentially submitted a draft Form S-1 registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, though reporting in May indicated its public debut may not arrive until 2027 amid weaker crypto market conditions and the exchange's ongoing cost-cutting efforts.