Vitalik Buterin Sends 400 ETH to Kraken Exchange Prior to SEC Lawsuit Against CZ and Binance

Updated: 12 July 2023

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Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, transferred 400 ETH to the Kraken exchange. This transaction occurred swiftly on June 5, 2023, being processed and completed within 30 seconds, moments before the SEC sued Binance.

Buterin’s 400 ETH Transfer to Kraken Exchange

With an estimated value of around $723,000, this move by Buterin comes at a time when both Binance and Kraken are facing controversies and challenges mostly concerning their funding gateways.

RECENTLY: Vitalik Buterin sent 400 ETH (≈ $700,000) to the Kraken exchange shortly before the SEC lawsuit against CZ and Binance.

— Coingraph | News (@CoingraphNews) June 6, 2023

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken legal action against Binance. Recently, the SEC filed 13 charges accusing the exchange of operating a securities exchange without registration. Binance is also facing allegations of participating in illicit activities within the United States.

According to the SEC, Binance was unlawfully soliciting U.S. customers to trade assets on platforms without registration. Additionally, the regulatory body asserts that Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, and the exchange itself were directly involved in the operations of Binance.US, contradicting previous statements made by the defendants.

The sudden departure of former Binance.US CEO Brian Brooks in August 2021, just three months into his role, has raised questions amid the ongoing controversy. Allegedly, Brooks resigned after realizing that he had no actual control over the company. However, Binance’s Chief Communications Officer, Patrick Hillman, has cast doubt on these speculations, suggesting that they may represent the subjective perspective of a single individual and may not hold up under further examination.

Kraken Exchange Faces Challenges with Deposits, Withdrawals, and Legal Issues

At the same time, Kraken is currently facing delays in deposits and withdrawals due to issues with various crypto funding gateways, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and ERC20 tokens. On June 6, Kraken announced they were actively addressing an issue causing delays in deposits and withdrawals for several cryptocurrencies.

The exchange has yet to reveal the specific underlying cause of this problem. The initial announcement by the company follows two subsequent updates assuring users that the Kraken team is working diligently to find a resolution.

Furthermore, Kraken is currently facing several legal challenges. In February, the exchange reached a $30 million settlement with the SEC. The settlement was based on allegations that its staking service had conducted an illegal securities sale.

Additionally, Kraken is disputing requests from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for user data. The exchange argues that these demands are unwarranted intrusions. As a response, Kraken has filed a petition with a federal court in San Francisco to halt the IRS’s investigation into its users’ potential underreporting of tax obligations.

Earlier this year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requested information on Kraken users. In addition, the users must have done cryptocurrency transactions of at least $20,000 annually from 2016 through 2020. Kraken views this as an unwarranted search for concealed revenues.