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.
In November 2022, Kraken laid off 1,100 people, or about 30 percent of employees, amid wider industry tumult after the collapse of rival FTX. The fallout from FTX rocked the crypto industry, with a number of companies undergoing layoffs or declaring bankruptcy as consumer enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies subsided.
The crypto market has since rebounded, with Bitcoin reaching a record price this year. Yet some companies have continued to make cuts. Consensys, the maker of the popular MetaMask crypto wallet, announced a 20 percent reduction in its work force on Tuesday, and dYdX, a cryptocurrency exchange, reduced its staff by 35 percent the same day.
Late last year, Kraken conducted a major reorganization, moving many employees to new teams within the company, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Some employees were left frustrated, the person said, complaining that the changes had been poorly communicated and that the company lacked a clear direction.
Last week, employees expressed confusion in Kraken’s internal chat rooms about the firm’s future, according to messages viewed by The New York Times, when news of Mr. Sethi’s potential appointment leaked to The Information.
In Wednesday’s blog post, the co-chief executives said that Kraken had increased its net revenue to more than $1 billion, but that the company had become too top-heavy and complicated in its management structures. The changes, they said, were aimed at refocusing employees on “building rather than managing.”
“The next chapter of Kraken starts today,” they wrote.
