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Kraken Pulling Back From Using Signature Bank: Bloomberg

Non-corporate clients will no longer be able to make dollar deposits or withdrawals using the crypto-focused bank, according to a report.

Kraken booth at Consensus 2018 (CoinDesk)
Kraken booth at Consensus 2018 (CoinDesk)

Crypto exchange Kraken is pulling back from using crypto-focused bank Signature Bank for some significant financial transactions, according to a report from Bloomberg, in the latest move away from a specific bank by a crypto exchange.

Non-corporate clients of Kraken will no longer be able to make dollar deposits or withdrawals using Signature, according to an email seen by Bloomberg that was sent to customers on Wednesday. Deposits will be phased out on March 15, while withdrawals will end on March 30.

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In its email to users, Kraken said the move was made due to changes by Signature, according to Bloomberg. In an email to CoinDesk, Signature noted that it had previously stated as of Feb. 1, it would no longer support any of its crypto exchange customers in buying and selling amounts of less than $100,000. Signature said in December that it would be reducing its exposure to the crypto sector, although not eliminating it entirely.

A Kraken spokesperson told CoinDesk via email that "Kraken maintains a number of different funding methods to ensure clients can always deposit and withdraw from their account. Consumers still have access to a range of payment methods through our other partners."

Earlier this week, crypto derivatives trading platform LedgerX reportedly said it would no longer use Silvergate Bank to receive domestic wire transfers and instead use Signature Bank.

UPDATE (March 1, 22:08): Added comment from Signature.

UPDATE (March 3, 13:42): Added comment from Kraken.


Nelson Wang

Nelson edits features and opinion stories and was previously CoinDesk’s U.S. News Editor for the East Coast. He has also been an editor at Unchained and DL News, and prior to working at CoinDesk, he was the technology stocks editor and consumer stocks editor at TheStreet. He has also held editing positions at Yahoo.com and Condé Nast Portfolio’s website, and was the content director for aMedia, an Asian American media company. Nelson grew up on Long Island, New York and went to Harvard College, earning a degree in Social Studies. He holds BTC, ETH and SOL above CoinDesk’s disclosure threshold of $1,000.

Nelson Wang