Summary
- Kraken has withdrawn over 330,000 ETH following regulatory pressure from the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Despite withdrawals, Kraken is still one of the largest depositors on the Beacon Chain with 935,488 ETH staked as of press time.
- The withdrawal of assets from the beacon chain is being led by Kraken in a second wave.
Kraken Withdraws 330k ETH amid Regulatory Pressure
Kraken is leading the second wave of full-staked Ethereum (ETH) withdrawals, according to Nansen’s dashboard. Nansen’s data journalist Martin Lee said the U.S.-based crypto exchange has withdrawn over 330,000 ETH. Lee added that “another 175,000 in ETH left, which is largely principal withdrawals.” Despite its withdrawals, Kraken is still one of the largest depositors on the Beacon Chain with 935,488 ETH staked as of press time. The high withdrawal rate can be attributed to regulatory pressure from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The exchange paid a $30 million fine for failing to register its staking services with the regulator.
Regulatory Pressure
The SEC fined Kraken for failing to register its staking services with them due to regulatory pressure. This resulted in a high withdrawal rate at Kraken despite it still being one of the biggest depositors on Beacon Chain with 935,488 ETH staked as of press time. The SEC’s enforcement action highlights their desire for exchanges offering these services to do so within their legal parameters and abide by existing securities laws and regulations.
Other Withdrawals From Beacon Chain
Other entities have also been withdrawing assets from Beacon Chain since withdrawals were enabled including other crypto exchanges such as Coinbase Pro and Binance US who have both made small amounts of withdrawals compared to Kraken but are still significant nonetheless due to their size and influence in this space.. Other smaller players such as yearn finance have also pulled out funds worth about 10k ether once again proving that despite all this there are many entities ready to take part in this new form of yield farming from defi protocols whilst trying not to fall afoul of any laws or regulations especially those imposed by government bodies like SEC or CFTC etc..