Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, won a $22 million arbitration award against former auditor Mazars USA and asked the Delaware Court of Chancery for a 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 even though it found no wrongdoing, expressed no concerns about management’s integrity and reported no disputes with the company.
“An audit is not a favor. It is oxygen,” Sethi wrote, arguing that independent audits are necessary to obtain banking services, licenses and other business relationships.
Sethi said Mazars’ resignation was part of what he described as Operation Chokepoint 2.0, a broader campaign that pressured banks, auditors and other institutions to cut ties with legitimate crypto companies.
The letter cites a number of regulatory changes from 2023 as evidence to support this claim. These included joint guidance from US banking regulators and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has since been repealed Employee Accounting Bulletin No. 121 and the collapse of cryptocurrency banking networks Silvergate SEN and Signature’s Signet.
Sethi also called on 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 regulatory enforcement.
Related: Kraken allows investors to exploit tokenized shares as collateral for leveraged trades
Kraken’s management is considering an audit dispute
Kraken co-founder Dave Ripley said on Tuesday that “this story is worth sharing despite its PTSD-inducing nature,” adding that “only a fraction of the stories from this era have been told.”
Ripley described the $22 million arbitration award as compensation for the financial damage caused by what he called a coordinated campaign against the crypto industry.
Meanwhile, U.S. regulators continue to address cryptocurrency debanking concerns. In February, the Federal Reserve sought public comment on a proposal to formally remove “reputational risk” from banking supervision, following its 2025 directive to stop pressuring banks to close customer accounts due to reputational concerns. Critics say the move could support put an end to Operation Chokepoint 2.0.
Source: Dave Ripley
Kraken was founded in 2011 and was widely expected to launch an initial public offering. In November 2025, the company said it had confidentially submitted design Form S-1, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission registration statement.
But it was true reported in May that its public debut might not happen until 2027, citing weaker cryptocurrency market conditions and the exchange’s ongoing cost-cutting efforts.
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