Kraken Hit by Nearly 12,000 "Dust Attacks," Some Customer Accounts Temporarily Inaccessible

According to Bloomberg, Kraken stated that some customers' accounts were temporarily inaccessible after receiving extremely small amounts of cryptocurrency from wallets linked to sanctioned rival HTX. Kraken described these transfers as "dust attacks," suggesting they may aim to trigger platform compliance reviews by spreading sanctioned funds. Data from Etherscan and Arkham Intelligence shows that between August 17 and 24, this wallet sent nearly 12,000 small transfers to Kraken-related addresses, mostly worth only a few cents or a few dollars. Kraken said it has restored account access for affected customers, while continuing to hold the relevant sanctioned funds as required, and is working with authorities to limit the impact. HTX denied initiating these transfers and stated it is investigating, with possible causes including source misidentification or malicious activity by third parties.