Kraken’s parent company is reported to have won a $22 million arbitration award against its former auditor, Mazars, after Mazars withdrew from a nearly completed 2022 audit. According to the outlets, Payward (Kraken’s parent company) filed the claim after Mazars stopped performing the work that was close to completion, and Kraken said the withdrawal caused financial harm that the arbitration quantified as $22 million. The dispute is described as connected to “Operation Choke Point 2.0,” a term often used in crypto reporting to refer to regulatory and banking pressure affecting the industry. Multiple sources state that the arbitration outcome sides with Kraken and that the award reflects the damages sought in the case. The reports characterize Mazars as abandoning the audit rather than completing it, and they link the timing and circumstances of Mazars’ withdrawal to broader compliance scrutiny faced by crypto firms. The accounts do not provide additional details on procedural issues, the arbitrator’s reasoning beyond the finding, or whether Mazars plans to challenge the decision.