Kraken, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, is reportedly laying off 15% of its employees amid the internal restructuring the firm announced on Wednesday. According to sources close to the company that The New York Times (NYT) spoke to, the layoffs affect about 400 of Kraken’s approximately 2,600 employees and include key leadership exits, including COO Gilles BianRosa and CTO Vishnu Patankar.
Arjun Sethi, who is also co-founder and chairman of VC firm Tribe Capital, as well as a member of the Kraken board since 2021, has been appointed as Kraken’s new co-CEO alongside Dave Ripley, who took over from Kraken founder Jesse Powell in 2023. In a blog post, Sethi and Ripley emphasized a focus on increasing efficiency and simplifying management structures, stating that the company needed to be “leaner and faster” to strengthen its position in the competitive crypto market. They explained that this strategic move was meant to streamline operations and shift employee focus towards “building rather than managing.”
The NYT article also said that this restructuring marks the latest in a series of big changes for Kraken over the past two years. In 2022, Powell engaged in a public dispute over workplace culture, reportedly asking employees to align with his views or resign. Later, he stepped down amid a Treasury Department investigation into potential sanctions violations, which the company later settled. And in November 2022, Kraken laid off roughly 30% of its workforce following FTX’s collapse.
Despite a recent market recovery, with Bitcoin hitting record highs this year, job cuts in the sector persist, with companies like Consensys and dYdX also announcing layoffs this week.
