The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has initiated legal proceedings against Bit Trade, the operator of the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange in Australia. ASIC alleges that Bit Trade neglected to establish a target market determination before offering its margin trading product to Australian clients, in violation of design and distribution requirements for financial product providers operating in Australia.At least 1160 Australian customers have used Bit Trade’s margin trading product, losing a collective $8.35 million (12.95 million Australian dollars). Bit Trade received notification of its non-compliance with these obligations in June 2022 but continued offering the product without fulfilling the necessary determinations.The product functions as a “margin extension” service, granting customers credit extensions of up to five times the value of the assets they employ as collateral. ASIC’s deputy chair, Sarah Court, emphasized that these proceedings should serve as a reminder to the crypto industry that financial products will continue to undergo scrutiny by regulators to ensure compliance with consumer protection laws in Australia.

This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)

Information	Details
Geography	Australia
Countries	🇦🇺
Sentiment	negative
Relevance Score	10
People	Sarah Court,
Companies	Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Bit Trade, Kraken
Currencies	None
Securities	None