Jesse Powell, the CEO of renowned U.S based crypto exchange Kraken is stepping down.
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, Binance CEO has reacted to the news through a tweet on his account. According to CZ, Jespow has made a significant contribution to the industry, and wished him the very best.
Hats off to @jespow for building Kraken for 11 years, with many contributions to the industry. Like raising a kid, a founder has to let go sooner or later. All the best!
— CZ
https://t.co/9ke7rIsKnvBinance (@cz_binance) September 21, 2022
It is worth noting that the price of bitcoin was $13 when Jespow founded Kraken. For the 11 years that Jespow has been serving as the CEO, CZ describes it as “raising a kid”.Powell oversaw the expansion of Kraken over his 11 years as CEO, making it one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world by market share.
Kraken achievements despite Binance dominance
Research estimates that Kraken saw over $160 billion in trade volume in just the first and second quarters of 2021, despite being overshadowed by Binance and Coinbase.
According to the Wall Street Journal, he will keep his position as chairman of the board and remain the company’s largest shareholder.
David Ripley, who is currently Kraken’s chief operational officer, and has been with the firm for six years will replace the early bitcoin backer Powell In the upcoming months.
Powell also had a track of making controversial statements in workplace communications as well as on social media.
The “business cultural war” Powell took part in was covered by the New York Times in June. Powell argued against the use of racial slurs, disapproved of how employees used pronouns, and referred to American women as being “brainwashed” in the company’s Slack channels.
The corporation’s “libertarian philosophical beliefs” were reaffirmed in a 31-page cultural statement, which also stated that anyone who disagreed with them might leave the company and get four months’ compensation. In addition, Powell labeled, employees who spoke to the press as “triggered”
At the time of writing, there was no official comment from a Kraken spokesperson. Powell told Fortune,
“For me, this is about spending more time on things I’m excellent at and love doing, like working on product and industry advocacy activities.”
