Historical retrospective · Policy

Kraken’s staking-as-a-service settlement sharpened a U.S. policy debate

In February 2023 the SEC announced that Kraken agreed to discontinue its U.S. staking-as-a-service program and pay a civil penalty to settle the Commission’s charges.

Event / milestone year: 2023First published

The action raised questions about how pooled staking services are marketed, structured and disclosed to U.S. customers.

It made staking-product design a recurring compliance issue for centralized platforms.

A settlement is not a ruling that all protocol staking or every staking service has the same legal status.

Primary source

This retrospective summarizes the source below in original language. The displayed year refers to the dated event, proposal or specification; it is not the article’s publication date. This is not investment, legal or security advice.

SEC Kraken announcement ↗