Kraken CEO Jesse Powell moving to Chairman role to focus on crypto industry advocacy

Kraken’s Co-founder and CEO Jesse Powell is stepping down from his position and will be replaced by the firm’s  COO Dave Ripley, according to a Sept 21 press statement.

Powell will become the chairman of the company’s board; he will now be focusing on product development and crypto industry advocacy.

The press release stated that Ripley had acted as the crypto exchange’s COO for the past six years. During this period, he helped grow the firm’s workers by 60x and assisted in “16 acquisitions and secured a significant number of global regulatory licenses and partnerships.”

Ripley said his vision would be to “accelerate” cryptocurrency adoption.

Ripley is expected to assume his new position after the firm completes its search for a new COO.

Earlier in the year, Powell was in the news for saying some of the firm’s employees were a “bad fit.” Then, he said employees were asked to either commit to the company or receive their pay and leave.

Powell also said he hoped to buy a Bugatti with 1 Bitcoin (BTC) before the end of the year.

Under Powell, Kraken was able to cement itself as one of the leading crypto exchanges in the world. According to Coingecko data, the exchange’s trading volume is over $632 million.

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