Kraken CEO Steps Down to Focus on Defending the Crypto Industry

• The CEO and co-founder of the Kraken exchange, Jesse Powell, will leave his post after 11 years in it, to become chairman of the board.
• Powell plans to focus on the company’s “products, user experience and overall industry advocacy.”
• The CEO role will be filled by Dave Ripley, chief operating officer who has been with the company since 2016.

Kraken, a major cryptocurrency exchange, reported that Jesse Powell, its co-founder and CEO, will step down. Kraken’s next CEO will be Dave Ripley, COO who has worked at the company since 2016. Why?

Jesse Powell has been the head of Kraken for over 11 years, so his departure from his post comes as a surprise to the entire crypto community. He was responsible for running Kraken when the industry was just in its infancy.

Nevertheless, Powell won’t say goodbye to Kraken entirely; on the contrary, he will assume the presidency of the board.

Controversies do not influence decision

Despite seemingly successfully running Kraken, at least for now, Jesse Powell was not without controversy. and according to Bloomberg, Powell said that as the company grew, being the leader became more tiring and less fun.

In June, Powell criticized an activist group within the company, telling them that if they were so unhappy with the platform, they should simply quit. This sparked a major debate in the crypto community.

Also, this year there were rumors that Kraken could be under investigation by the US Treasury Department. Nevertheless, Powell assured Bloomberg that his resignation has nothing to do with these controversies, on the contrary, he has actually been motivated to resign out of “boredom.”

In fact, Kraken’s board had apparently known for a year that Jesse Powell would be stepping down as CEO.

Who will be the new leader?

Dave Ripley will assume the reins of the crypto exchange and, according to Ripley, his goals are “in tune” with Powell’s: “Accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrencies.”

“Jesse and I will be working closely on our transition in the coming months as he moves into the role of Chairman of the Board.”assured Ripley in a publication of LinkedIn.

In the press release, Powell assured that:

“Dave’s proven leadership and experience give me great confidence that he is the ideal successor and the best person to guide Kraken through its next era of growth.”.

While Powell plans to focus on the “company’s products, user experience, and advocacy for the industry at large.”

Ripley has worked at Kraken for six years as COO, and under his leadership the company has “completed more than 16 acquisitions and secured a significant number of global regulatory partnerships and licenses.”

Kraken is currently the ninth largest crypto exchange by traded volume, according to CoinGecko. It will be interesting to see if Ripley manages to move the crypto exchange up the rankings.

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