Kraken Lays Off 15% of Workers and Names New Co-Chief Executive

Kraken, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, on Wednesday announced the layoff of 15 percent of its workers, a corporate restructuring and the appointment of a new co-chief executive.

The cuts amounted to about 400 of the company’s roughly 2,600 employees, two people with knowledge of the company said. They included two members of the leadership team: the chief operating officer, Gilles BianRosa, and the chief technology officer, Vishnu Patankar, two people said.

Kraken named Arjun Sethi, a longtime Silicon Valley executive, as co-chief executive, alongside Dave Ripley. Mr. Ripley became chief executive in 2023 after Jesse Powell, the company’s founder, stepped down following internal struggles with employees.

“To continue forging our path ahead and put Kraken in contention to become the largest crypto platform in the world, we need to be leaner and faster,” Mr. Sethi and Mr. Ripley wrote in a blog post. “We are making organizational discipline decisions to tackle this problem and eliminate layers.”

Kraken has gone through several upheavals over the past two years. In the summer of 2022, Mr. Powell engaged in a culture war with his employees and encouraged them to resign if they didn’t side with his political views. Later that year, he resigned amid an investigation into the company by the Treasury Department for a potential violation of U.S. sanctions. Kraken later settled with the government.

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