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Kraken withdraws Monero questionnaires its co-CEO called wrong
Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said clients who withdrew Monero were emailed for employer, source of funds and intended use with no rule requiring it. Kraken reposted his note; Monero stays listed.
Kraken has withdrawn questionnaires it sent to some clients who bought and withdrew Monero, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, after co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the requests were wrong and no rule required them [1]. The exchange's official account then reposted his note [2].
Sethi said on X at 10:15 p.m. ET on Oct. 23 that "the monero:native emails were us." Clients who bought Monero with their own money and withdrew it received emails asking for employer, source of funds and what they planned to do with their coins. "No rule required it," he wrote. "Someone saw a young client with a lot of money and called it a red flag. That is not a red flag. That is our customer and client" [1].
What changed, he said: those requests are withdrawn, and the clients have been told nothing is required of them. The "what will you do with your coins" question is "gone and unacceptable." He drew a line on checks that remain: "Where your money came from is a fair question. What you do with it after it leaves is not" [1]. Monero stays listed on Kraken, and clients can still withdraw it [1].
Kraken's @krakenfx account reposted the full note at 12:48 a.m. ET on Oct. 24, treating Sethi's walk-back as the firm's position [2].
In Le Coin's view, the stakes are less about one privacy coin than about how an exchange draws the line between source-of-funds checks and questions about what clients do after a withdrawal. The objection is fair: Sethi himself keeps source-of-funds questions on the table. But a questionnaire that asked about post-withdrawal use, then had to be pulled after a public call-out, is a policy that failed in public.
The tell is whether Kraken publishes a written compliance update that matches Sethi's distinction, and whether similar emails stop for other assets.
Sources
- Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Kraken, on X, Oct. 23, 2026, 10:15 p.m. ET: https://x.com/arjunsethi/status/2113816578441810104
- Kraken (@krakenfx), repost of Sethi on X, Oct. 24, 2026, 12:48 a.m. ET: https://x.com/krakenfx/status/2113855168340971773
Holding the Corner.
Not financial advice.