Jesse Powell, CEO of Kraken steps down
Kraken is currently the fourth-largest crypto exchange, after Binance, FTX and Coinbase.
The CEO of Kraken, Jesse Powell, is resigning from his position at the 2011-founded bitcoin exchange.
Dave Ripley will take over Mr. Powell’s position as Chief Operations Officer until the business hires a replacement for Mr. Ripley, the transfer is anticipated to happen within the next six months. Mr. Powell will continue to serve as chairman of Kraken and engage in product development and advocacy for the cryptocurrency sector.
According to reports, he claimed that as Kraken grew bigger, managing the business became more taxing and “less fun.” He continued by saying that he still intends to be actively involved with the business he started in the early days of cryptocurrency.
“I look forward to spending more of my time on the company’s products, user experience, and broader industry advocacy,” he said.
The transition is noteworthy since Powell has been a key player in the cryptocurrency community from Bitcoin’s infancy, building Kraken from a fledgling company to a sizable exchange with a reputation for cutting-edge products.
This year, Mr. Powell has been at the heart of a number of business-related scandals. Powell lambasted a group of “woke activists” working for the company in June and demanded disgruntled workers to leave, setting off a social-political controversy that affected the cryptocurrency sector and beyond.
After Powell was accused of making offensive remarks about gender and ethnicity in a New York Times article based on stolen Slack communications and employee interviews, Kraken’s work environment came under fire.
The U.S. Treasury Department also reportedly opened an investigation into Kraken in July over allegations that it had violated international sanctions against the Iranian government by allegedly enabling Iranian users to utilise the site.
According to PitchBook, Karken most recently had a value of $10.8 billion and employs roughly 3,200 people.
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