FBI Drops Criminal Probe Into Kraken Founder Jesse Powell

7 hours ago

Federal authorities person dropped a transgression probe into Jesse Powell, co-founder and erstwhile CEO of cryptocurrency speech Kraken.

The FBI investigation, which began successful 2023, was looking into the non-profit Verge Center for the Arts' allegations that Powell hacked its machine accounts and obstructed entree to emails. His location was besides searched erstwhile the probe began and computers, laptops and cellphones were seized astatine the time, the New York Times reported past year.

In April this year, national prosecutors informed Powell's lawyer Brandon Fox that the authorities had concluded its probe into the Verge allegations and it was not bringing transgression charges against Powell, documents filed to the Superior Court of the State of California connected Monday showed. Prosecutors besides said astatine the clip they would instrumentality the devices they had seized from Powell's home, Fox said.

On June 9, his lawyer aboriginal received a missive from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California confirming that the national authorities had closed this probe connected April 8 this year. Fox initially asked for this missive to beryllium sent to Powell.

“The FBI's raid connected my location was devastating some personally and professionally. It is inactive shocking that the raid was premised connected Verge Center for the Art’s baseless accusations against me," Powell said successful a statement.

"I volition proceed to prosecute the due ineligible remedies against those who created this catastrophe by making mendacious statements to instrumentality enforcement,” helium added.

The closure of the lawsuit comes arsenic Kraken weighs the anticipation of an archetypal nationalist offering by the first 4th of 2026. Powell stepped down arsenic the exchange's CEO successful 2023 according to his LinkedIn, but remains connected its committee of directors.

Kraken remains 1 of the largest U.S.-based crypto exchanges and has been the people of accrued regulatory scrutiny successful caller years. In 2023, it settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission and unopen its U.S. staking services.

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