Approximately 12,000 Small Transfers to Kraken-Linked Addresses: Some Accounts Temporarily Locked

Kraken announced that access to some customers’ accounts was temporarily restricted following approximately 12,000 small transfers sent between August 17 and 24.

According to a Bloomberg report cited by Wu Blockchain, some Kraken customers were temporarily unable to access their accounts after receiving these transfers.

The transfers were made between August 17-24 from a wallet identified as linked to HTX to Kraken-linked addresses. According to data from Etherscan and Arkham Intelligence, the number of transactions approached 12,000. Most of the transfers were valued at only a few cents or a few dollars.

Temporary account restrictions occurred at Kraken

Kraken characterized these transactions as a “dust attack.” Kraken stated that this activity may have been intended to spread sanctioned funds across different platforms and trigger compliance reviews on other platforms. Access to the accounts of some customers who received these transfers was temporarily restricted. While Kraken restored access to the affected accounts, it continued to hold the funds subject to investigation.

Arkham Intelligence identified the wallet from which the transfers were sent as being linked to HTX. However, HTX denied initiating the transfers and launched an investigation, stating that the addresses might have been misidentified or that the transactions might have been carried out by malicious third parties.