After creating a support ticket to try and resolve my problem transferring Ethereum to my Metamask wallet, I had two emails from Kraken this morning. The first one assured me I should soon have an answer:

Your request has been escalated to the relevant department who will get back to you as soon as possible.

Two hours later, the second email was much less promising.

Thank you for your patience.

Unfortunately, we must inform you that we will be closing your Kraken account. For security purposes, we cannot disclose the reason for this action. For more information, please see our support article: Account Closures: Safeguarding Our Clients and Kraken.

Your deposit is being returned to the sending bank account. Typically, returns may take up to 5 business days to complete; however, please note this is just an estimate and may be extended in some cases.

Please don’t attempt a crypto withdrawal. Any crypto withdrawal will be failed.

Please also complete the following actions within the next 72 hours (from the time and date of this message):

• Convert your crypto to cash.
• Withdraw your remaining balance to a bank account in your own name.
• Export all your trade and ledger history as we will be unable to provide it to you later.
   

Deposit services have already been disabled for your account. After the 72 hours have passed, your account will be closed.

Kindly note that you cannot open another Kraken account. We may reach out to you if we require additional documentation.

We appreciate your understanding.

To protect the money in the account, I did as instructed. I sold the Ethereum (I made about 8% after fees in only a couple of days), and I set up a transfer back to my bank account.

Due to my wife working in the banking industry, she let me know of two reasons accounts would be closed: fraud or money laundering. Since I did not fit either of these sins, I thought back to my previous interaction with Kraken…

On the previous leg of my Kraken journey, I was trying to run everything through my LLC. Unfortunately, do to limited recent activity, I was not able to provide the information Kraken requested. Likely, this attempt included the same passport and/or driver’s license. Since this is likely the case, I am guessing my account was flagged for “fraud”.

Since I am told, “Kindly note that you cannot open another Kraken account.”, I have sent an email to Kraken citing previous support tickets and letting them know I realize why things may look a little fishy. I am hoping they will give me a krak at using their services. I suppose this is the reason my guide had me open both a Kraken and Coinbase account. If not Kraken, then I go to the next guys on the list: Binance or Bitstamp?