The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has made it clear that it will keep imposing fines on cryptocurrency exchanges for alleged violations of the U.S. sanctions system.

U.S. crypto exchange Kraken has settled with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today, agreeing to pay $362,158.70 for apparent violations of sanctions against Iran.

ConsenSys and the venture arm of crypto exchange Kraken have backed institutional staking platform Kiln in a €17 million ($17.6 million) round. Blockdaemon and Illuminate Financial led the equity round, which closed in October and featured participation from GSR, LeadBlock Partners, Sparkle Ventures, Alven and Blue Yard Capital. 

<a href="https://coingape.com/glossary/binance/">Binance</a> was one of the first crypto exchanges to reveal their proof-of-reserves, and it wasn’t long before numerous other crypto firms followed suit. However, these earliest proof-of-reserves were nothing more than the balances of the cold wallets belonging to the exchanges.

The long-awaited Spark (FLR) airdrop distribution to eligible XRP holders is around the corner, as more crypto exchanges show preparedness and support. However, the Flare team is yet to confirm the date for the airdrop distribution event after the last postponement.&nbsp;

<b>Kraken has enabled funding and staking for the Flare token as the airdrop distribution date draws closer for XRP holders.</b>

Kraken executive Jesse Powell shared a screenshot of coinmarketcap.com’s newly launched proof-of-reserves (POR) dashboard.&nbsp;

Kraken’s chief operating officer said crypto’s future will be based on self-custody and clear regulatory standards. Dave Ripley, currently the crypto exchange’s COO and named to replace CEO Jesse Powell when he steps down, told CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover” that Kraken is a supporter of self-custody.

The Kraken founder says that the Bitcoin (BTC) halving, which will likely take place sometime in the first half of next year, could be the next bullish catalyst for crypto markets.

Prominent crypto exchanges Kraken, Coinbase and Gate.io became the first exchanges to publish proof-of-reserves, including liabilities, as part of their audits.