We’ve come a long way since Kraken announced its leadership succession plan last September. This week Dave Ripley will officially start as Kraken’s CEO, while outgoing CEO and co-founder Jesse Powell will move into his new role as Chairman of the Board. 

Over the last few months, the leadership team at Kraken has done a lot of work to ensure a smooth transition. We successfully navigated a number of industry challenges, launched several new products, and further strengthened our executive bench. We did this to ensure Kraken is in a strong position for the next phase of growth under Dave’s leadership. 

• To ensure the right operational leadership and capabilities we hired key senior executives including Guy Hirsch, Managing Director for North America, and Chief Compliance Officer CJ Rinaldi, in addition to the appointment of Dan Ciporin to its board of directors and several internal promotions. 
• While continuously improving our current product suite to meet client needs, we launched Kraken NFT marketplace, Kraken Pro trading interface, and our consumer web user experience.
• As part of our international growth plans, Kraken recently obtained a VASP registration in Ireland and filed a pre-registration undertaking in Canada as we are working toward registration as a “Restricted Dealer”.
• We’re also collaborating with Williams Racing to bring the Kraken brand to hundreds of millions of race fans around the world. 

We have a lot more exciting stuff coming up and we’re looking forward to sharing more in the weeks and months to come. 

“Dave has been an incredibly valued colleague and thought partner for years. There’s no other leader in this industry with the crypto conviction, experience and character that Dave brings,” said Jesse. “As a founder himself, he has an unparalleled and deep understanding of our business, our clients, and Kraken’s opportunities ahead.”

After a period of unprecedented growth, 2022 was a tumultuous year for crypto. During the transition period, Kraken has brought its organization in line with current demand to effectively grow market share and scale its business globally.

“Jesse’s leadership over the past 12 years has been instrumental in making Kraken the mission-driven powerhouse it is today,” said Dave. “As we move forward, the challenges and opportunities will continue to change, but Kraken’s mission and values will remain deeply ingrained in its DNA. We stay committed to driving crypto adoption and unlocking its full potential while keeping our clients at the forefront of everything we do.”