The blog post on Kraken reads, “We are grateful for Jesse’s leadership, as well as his dedication to crypto values and Kraken’s mission over the last 11 years — and we are thrilled to have Dave as our new CEO as we embark on our second decade of growth and global adoption.”
Jesse Powell, Kraken’s largest shareholder and co-founder, announced his plans to step down from his position as CEO. Kraken’s current chief operating officer Dave Ripley will succeed him as CEO.
Kraken’s blog post claimed Powell will continue working with the company as chairman of the board of directors. The transition will occur over the next few months once Kraken hires a new COO.
Dave joined Kraken after the firm acquired Glidera, a crypto wallet funding service, in 2016. Under his leadership, Kraken will continue expanding its portfolio and helping clients with their crypto investments
Powell added,
“Dave’s proven leadership and experience give me great confidence that he’s the ideal successor and the best person to lead Kraken through its next era of growth.”
Powell will focus on enhancing Kraken’s “products, user experience and broader industry advocacy.”
Earlier in June, Powell asked “woke” employees to leave if they could not follow the company’s values. In July, the Treasury department suspected Kraken of providing its services to Iranian users.
However, Powell denied these controversies as the reason behind his resignation. Instead, he claimed that he had informed the board about stepping down a year ago.
According to him,
“As the company has gotten bigger, it’s just gotten to be more draining on me, less fun.”
