Jesse Powell Exits Kraken CEO Position, COO Ripley Will Take the Reins
Major crypto exchange Kraken announced that co-founder Jesse Powell is stepping down from his position as CEO.
Powell co-founded the company back in 2011 with Thanh Luu, and is considered one of the pioneers in the space.
Per this announcement, COO Dave Ripley will succeed Powell, while the latter will become chairman of the board of directors. Ripley, however, will assume his new role as CEO after the exchange completes its search for a new COO.
Powell, on his part, said that he looks forward to spending more time “on the company’s products, user experience and broader industry advocacy.”
“As the company has gotten bigger, it’s just gotten to be more draining on me, less fun,” Powell was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. “I still plan to stay very engaged with the company” as the largest shareholder and member of the board.
Per Bloomberg, Powell informed the company about his decision over a year ago.
He added in the press release that Ripley’s “proven leadership and experience” give the now-former CEO confidence that the new CEO is “the ideal successor and the best person to lead Kraken through its next era of growth.”
Ripley has been Kraken’s COO for six years, joining the exchange through its acquisition of Glidera, a crypto wallet funding service where he was co-founder and CEO. Kraken credits him with growing the exchange from 50 to over 3,000 workers, adding that, “under [his] guidance”, Kraken completed more than sixteen acquisitions and secured “a significant number” of global regulatory licenses and partnerships.
Meanwhile, news outlets, such as The New York Times and Bloomberg, have brought back into focus Powell’s disagreement with Kraken’s employees – specifically the conflict that arose this year around his gender-
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