HTX-Attributed Dust Attack Freezes Thousands of Kraken Accounts

A recent dust attack on Kraken exchange temporarily froze accounts of thousands of customers. Between August 17 and 24, 2026, almost 12,000 tiny deposits were made to customer wallets, attributed by analytics firms to the sanctioned exchange HTX (formerly Huobi). The amounts ranged from a few cents to a few dollars, triggering automated sanctions screening checks at Kraken.

The exchange's spokesperson told Bloomberg that it did not know who was behind the attack and that the senders likely counted on sanctions in customers' accounts being triggered. HTX denies involvement and is investigating whether faulty address attribution, internal process errors, or third-party actions were to blame.

A dust attack involves sending tiny amounts of cryptocurrency to multiple addresses, either to de-anonymize users or trigger screening routines at receiving providers. In this case, the goal was likely to disrupt operations for many Kraken customers by freezing their accounts.