An American court has issued a decision requiring exchanges to disclose the personal data of all clients involved in cryptocurrency trading. This decision has raised concerns for the Kraken exchange, which worries that such disclosure could negatively affect its relationship with clients and undermine their trust.

The conflict began several years ago when investor Vladi Zakinov filed a class-action lawsuit against Ripple and its CEO Brad Garlinghouse, accusing them of selling XRP as an unregistered security. Ripple denied these accusations, asserting that XRP is similar to Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are not considered securities.

John Deaton, an attorney representing XRP holders, stated that Ripple is more concerned about the legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) than the class-action lawsuit. In the summer, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP is not a security when sold on the secondary market. However, it remains unclear whether Judge Phyllis Hamilton, who is handling the case initiated by Zakinov, will uphold this logic.

Following Judge Torres' decision in July, the Kraken exchange relisted XRP, along with other major trading platforms. In April, Kraken attempted to challenge a request from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for user data, but in October, it confirmed that it would share this information with the IRS.