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Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has been awarded $22 million in arbitration against its former auditor, Mazars USA, following the auditor’s abandonment of a nearly completed audit. Payward is seeking to have this award entered as a final judgment by the Delaware Court of Chancery.

According to Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Kraken, the auditor’s withdrawal occurred during a period Payward claims was associated with reputational harm and financial losses, particularly during what critics describe as ‘Operation Choke Point 2.0’—a campaign to pressure banks into cutting off the crypto industry. Sethi stated that when an auditor walks away without findings, the client is left to repair reputational damage at a significant cost.

Mazars USA had audited Kraken’s financials for three years, delivering two clean opinions. However, the firm quit the third audit in December 2023, days before its completion. Mazars reported in writing that it had no disagreement with management, no concerns about integrity, and found no fraud before withdrawing. The firm cited legal uncertainty, including an SEC complaint filed against Kraken weeks prior, as a reason for its withdrawal.

This dispute unfolded against a backdrop of increased regulatory scrutiny on the crypto industry. In December 2022, Mazars Group had already halted its proof-of-reserves work for the crypto sector. In January 2023, regulators including the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC issued a joint statement warning banks about crypto risks. Around the same time, the FDIC sent approximately 25 ‘pause letters’ to 24 banks, which advocates say instructed lenders to halt or reconsider crypto-related activities.

The SEC had filed a complaint against Kraken weeks before Mazars abandoned its audit. This suit was later dismissed with prejudice in March 2025, with no penalties or admission of wrongdoing by Kraken, noted as part of a broader shift in regulatory approach.

In a related development, Kraken co-founder and former CEO Jesse Powell’s home was raided by federal agents in March 2023. The investigation was reportedly closed about two years later with no charges filed.

Sethi has pointed to these events as a reason to support legislative efforts like the Clarity Act, a bill aimed at dividing oversight of digital assets between the SEC and the CFTC. The Clarity Act cleared the Senate Banking Committee in May with a 15-9 vote, after passing the House in the previous year, but has faced hurdles and requires further votes to become law.

Payward’s claim in arbitration centered on the reputational and financial damage was associated with by Mazars’ abrupt departure from the audit. Sethi argued that proving a lawful crypto business deserves ordinary banking and professional services should not require winning a legal fight.

Uncertainties remain regarding the exact date of the arbitration award announcement and the specific years the Clarity Act passed the House and cleared the Senate Banking Committee. The full extent of legal uncertainty cited by Mazars and whether the firm acted independently or under pressure are also points of ambiguity. The precise reasons for the SEC’s initial complaint against Kraken and the full impact of ‘Operation Choke Point 2.0’ on the broader crypto industry are also not fully detailed.

Why This Matters

The materials describe a narrow update: Payward, the parent company of Kraken, received a $22 million arbitration award from its former auditor, Mazars USA. The exact date of the Tuesday announcement.

Broader Context

Source materials place the factual news in this context: Operation Choke Point 2.0 is a widely used term for what critics describe as the Biden administration’s unofficial campaign to pressure banks into cutting off the crypto industry after the collapse of FTX.

Bankers Flagged £5 Million Gift to Nigel Farage to UK Crime Agency

Bankers flagged a £5 million donation to Nigel Farage from billionaire Tether investor Christopher Harborne to the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), according to a report by The Guardian.

The financial institution filed a suspicious activity report (SAR) with the agency on May 16, 2024, The Guardian reported, noting that the bankers were unable to trace the ultimate origin of the funds. A SAR is not an accusation of wrongdoing but rather a notification prompting the agency to review a transaction for potential further investigation.

Harborne, a British businessman based in Thailand, who owns a 12% stake in USDT issuer Tether and ranks sixth on The Sunday Times Rich List, has also made substantial donations to the Reform UK party.

Banks are particularly vigilant with transactions involving “politically exposed persons” (PEPs), who are considered to be at a higher risk of bribery or corruption. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance mandates that firms adopt a “risk-based and proportionate approach to PEPs when considering money laundering risks.” Harborne’s cryptocurrency holdings further elevated this risk from a banking perspective, The Guardian stated, due to the inherent difficulty in tracing funds moving in and out of digital assets.

Farage told The Guardian that he was unaware of the SAR and had “no reason to doubt the ultimate source of the money.” He asserted that the information had been “illegally obtained” by the newspaper and claimed he had no knowledge of any discussions with the NCA concerning transactions involving him.

The NCA declined to confirm or deny to The Guardian whether it had received any report, citing the confidentiality of SARs and the potential for breaching this confidentiality to constitute a “tipping off” offense under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Discrepancies in Donation Timeline Emerge

Harborne’s lawyers informed The Guardian that Farage received the funds on April 5, 2024. However, financial industry sources cited by the newspaper indicated that at least a portion of the £5 million arrived after May 23, 2024, the date Farage announced his decision not to stand in that year’s general election, citing it was “not the right time for me.” He later reversed this decision days later to contest the Clacton seat.

This timeline appears to conflict with an account in a new book, “The Farage Factor” by Conservative peer Michael Ashcroft. The book suggests that Reform UK was already preparing to launch Farage’s candidacy by mid-May, having enlisted a GB News producer to assist with promoting a planned announcement event.

Farage has characterized the donation as an “unconditional gift” and has provided various explanations for its purpose, including security funding, a reward for his Brexit advocacy, and as “nobody’s business,” stating he could use it for luxury items like Ferraris.

Scrutiny Over Declaration and Potential By-Election

Farage has argued that he was not obligated to declare the gift as he was not a politician at the time of receipt. According to The Guardian’s reporting, he became a “person of significant control” of Reform’s corporate entity on May 1, 2024, and served as the party’s honorary president from March 2021 to June 2024.

Parliament’s standards commissioner is already investigating whether the failure to declare the funds breached parliamentary rules. The Labour party has accused him of evading scrutiny over the gift.

Hours before The Guardian’s latest report, Farage stated his intention to force a by-election in his Clacton seat. However, this move appeared to backfire on Tuesday night as the Conservatives, Labour, the Greens, the Liberal Democrats, and Restore Britain all announced they would not field candidates, dismissing the contest as a “circus.”

Should Farage be re-elected, he would still face the ongoing standards inquiry and any subsequent reprimand.

Separately, George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster with connections to an offshore crypto casino, has called for an investigation into Farage’s “failure to declare financial support.” The Reform UK leader has denied that the benefits required declaration, and Cottrell denies having expected any reciprocal benefit.