Crypto Exchange Kraken Wins $22 Million Arbitration Against Auditor Mazars
Kraken parent Payward hired Mazars USA to audit its 2022 financial statements, but the firm withdrew in December 2023 when the audit was nearing completion. The dispute raises questions about crypto companies’ access to essential services such as banking and auditing. Kraken alleges the withdrawal was part of the regulatory pressure campaign it calls “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” but that remains a company allegation.
Payward announced on July 7, 2026, that an arbitrator had ordered Mazars USA to pay $22 million for operational and financial losses caused by the unfinished audit. Payward petitioned the Delaware Court of Chancery the same day to confirm and enforce the award. Kraken said Mazars had found no fraud, concerns about management integrity or material disagreements during the audit.
All Coverage
1 original reportsThe Backstory
The history behind this eventKraken Parent Payward Revenue Rises 17% as Growth Broadens
Payward’s Kraken is one of the world’s major cryptocurrency exchanges and has been expanding into payments, custody and other financial services. Its second-quarter 2025 results underscore the importance of that diversification: revenue continued to rise even as crypto trading activity weakened, suggesting the company is becoming less dependent on transaction volumes for growth.
Payward reported $508 million in adjusted revenue for the second quarter of 2025, up 17% from a year earlier. Trading volume fell 13% to $310 billion, but the number of funded accounts climbed 42% to 6.6 million. The figures indicate that customer growth and a broader mix of services helped offset softer trading activity during the period.
Kraken Sues PowerTrade, Alleging Misappropriation of More Than $7 Million in Assets
Kraken parent Payward has used PowerTrade for institutional-grade crypto derivatives trading since 2022. The case centers on whether a trading platform may retroactively alter settled positions and withhold customer collateral, raising questions about asset custody, accounting transparency and counterparty risk at centralized platforms.
Payward alleged that after a market decline in October 2025 and Kraken’s unsuccessful attempt to withdraw funds, PowerTrade used about 100 unauthorized “correction trades” to turn a positive balance of more than $6 million into a deficit of nearly $2 million, allegedly misappropriating $7.2 million in total. On June 25, 2026, Payward asked a U.S. federal court to authorize subpoenas for financial institution records so it could trace and freeze the assets.
Subscribe to Mark Radar Weekly
Every Friday, the week's strongest signals in your inbox. Unsubscribe anytime.
If you search news on Google, you can set Mark Radar as a preferred source—our coverage will show up more often in your results. Set as preferred source on Google →