In recent years, the cryptocurrency community has experienced a period of intense anticipation and concern, particularly regarding the refunds of Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) from the now-defunct Mt. Gox. Recently, as the assets are finally being returned to creditors after a decade-long wait, the atmosphere of anxiety has been amplified.
However, the process has encountered significant obstacles. Several cryptocurrency exchanges, which serve as intermediaries in the payments, have announced delays in transferring the funds. Notably, Kraken has set a 90-day deadline to complete the refunds related to Mt. Gox, the longest period among the major platforms. This decision has sparked criticism and suspicion within the market, with accusations that this measure is a strategy to intentionally delay the payments.
Bitfinex’ed, a renowned critic in the industry, has expressed concern, suggesting that Kraken may engage in questionable practices such as freezing large accounts and repeatedly requesting KYC/AML documents that they already possess, as a tactic to buy time while larger traders outperform them. These accusations take on a new layer of complexity when, according to a Reddit post, a user who had chosen Kraken as their payment channel revealed that their account was unexpectedly suspended.
The post details that, without concrete explanations and amidst the beginning of the Mt. Gox refunds, Kraken closed the user’s account. While there is no clear justification for the suspension, it is speculated that it could be related to sanctions targeting Russia, as the user is from Kazakhstan. This type of preventive intervention in response to international sanctions is a phenomenon observed in various regions and is not exclusive to the cryptocurrency universe, as it is also a common practice in traditional banks.
In response to these controversies, Kraken categorically denied the allegations of misconduct in a requested comment, stating: “Kraken has not closed any account for any reason related to the planned Mt. Gox distribution. Customers who do not comply with our terms of service are subject to having their accounts closed. We cannot tell individual customers why their accounts were closed.”
Given this scenario, the cryptocurrency sector remains in a state of vigilance, observing how the next phases of the Mt. Gox refunds will be managed by the involved platforms.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author, or anyone mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing or trading cryptocurrencies carries the risk of financial loss.
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