Dutch court declares Knaken bankrupt after €7m missing

A Rotterdam court has placed cryptocurrency platform Knaken Cryptohandel BV and its affiliated foundation into bankruptcy proceedings after prosecutors allege €7 million in customer assets are missing and access to the platform and user accounts was blocked.

The ruling, issued on Thursday, said bankruptcy was necessary to allow an orderly settlement because Knaken lacks sufficient assets to repay all users and customers do not have enough information to determine their legal position. The court put the estate under bankruptcy while criminal and asset-recovery investigations continue.

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service filed the bankruptcy petition on June 30 after opening a criminal inquiry into the shortfall. The Netherlands’ financial crime investigation service (FIOD) carried out a raid in late June and seized devices and other assets as part of the probe. Prosecutors have not disclosed how the €7 million was lost or whether any individuals will be charged.

Knaken was founded in Rotterdam in 2017 and reportedly went offline in early June, at which point users could no longer access the trading platform or their accounts. The company does not appear in the register of authorized crypto-asset service providers maintained by the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM).

The AFM has begun supervisory and enforcement actions against unauthorized crypto-asset service providers after the Netherlands ended its transition period under the Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation on June 30, 2025. That national deadline preceded the EU-wide maximum transition deadline of July 1, 2026. Dutch authorities have increased scrutiny of crypto custodians and trading platforms as licensing and oversight requirements come into force.

The court said bankruptcy proceedings will centralize efforts to recover and distribute assets and will protect the interests of creditors and customers. Available assets appear insufficient to cover all claims. Customers and other creditors will be invited to file claims with the appointed bankruptcy curator, who will assess entitlements and oversee any distribution of recovered funds or seized property.

The criminal investigation led by prosecutors and the FIOD aims to determine whether criminal conduct occurred and to recover missing assets where possible. No further details about investigative findings or potential charges have been released.