Kraken Announces Leadership Succession Plan

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - September 21, 2022 - Kraken, one of the world’s leading crypto platforms, today announced that COO Dave Ripley will succeed Co-founder and CEO Jesse Powell, who will become chairman of the board of directors. Dave will assume the role of CEO after Kraken completes a COO search.

“Dave’s proven leadership and experience give me great confidence that he’s the ideal successor and the best person to lead Kraken through its next era of growth,” said Powell. “I look forward to spending more of my time on the company’s products, user experience and broader industry advocacy.”

An accomplished leader, Dave has served as Kraken’s COO for six years, playing an instrumental role in growing the company and scaling its operations. He successfully grew Kraken from 50 to over 3,000 workers. Under Dave’s guidance, Kraken completed more than 16 acquisitions and secured a significant number of global regulatory licenses and partnerships.

“United by our crypto-first culture, we will empower people to transact and connect in new ways,” said Ripley. “My vision, along with the rest of the leadership team, is in lockstep with Jesse’s – to accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrency.”

Kraken will continue to invest in the ongoing expansion of its product portfolio, helping clients navigate the crypto landscape no matter where they are in their crypto journey.

With nearly a decade of crypto industry leadership experience, Dave joined Kraken through its acquisition of Glidera, an award-winning crypto wallet funding service where he was co-founder and CEO. He started his career as a software engineer and product manager, before joining the Boston Consulting Group where he advised executives throughout the financial services industry on top strategic priorities.

Over the past 11 years, Kraken has evolved from a bitcoin exchange into a diverse crypto platform. Products include an extensive suite of trading tools and educational resources, industry-leading staking services, futures trading and an OTC desk. Kraken will soon launch its own NFT marketplace.

To learn more, please visit kraken.com.

Kraken is the world’s largest global digital asset platform based on euro volume and liquidity. Globally, Kraken’s client base trades more than 90 digital assets and 7 different fiat currencies, including GBP, EUR, USD, CAD, JPY, CHF and AUD. 

Kraken, now 2300+ employees, was founded in 2011 and was one of the first exchanges to offer spot trading with margin, parachain auctions, staking, regulated derivatives and index services. Kraken is trusted by over 8.5 million traders and institutions around the world and offers professional, round-the-clock online support. 

Kraken is backed by investors including Tribe Capital, SkyBridge, Hummingbird Ventures, Blockchain Capital, Digital Currency Group, among others. 

Kraken markets can be monitored and traded through the Kraken iOS and Android apps, and through the Cryptowatch iOS, Android and Desktop apps.

For more information about Kraken, please visit www.kraken.com

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Staying true to our mission to bring crypto to everyone, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell explains it all in our new video series: Crypto 101.

Recognizing the importance of Bitcoin from the onset, and understanding that the exchange is the most critical part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, Jesse Powell co-founded Kraken to give people the means to quickly and securely invest in the space.