Kraken CEO Jesse Powell Steps Down

COO Dave Ripley will succeed Powell, who is slated to become chair of the board of directors

article-image

Kraken CEO Jesse Powell

share

key takeaways

  • The exchange has over 3,000 employees and has recently replaced other top executives
  • Powell is currently Kraken’s largest shareholder

Crypto exchange Kraken is restructuring its leadership team.

CEO Jesse Powell will no longer lead the company he founded in 2011. Dave Ripley, chief operating officer at the exchange for the last six years, will succeed Powell once the search for his own replacement as COO has been completed.

Powell will remain at the company, however, becoming the chair of the board of directors. He is currently Kraken’s largest shareholder.

Powell shared in a statement that stepping down as CEO will enable him to spend more time on the company’s products, user experience and industry advocacy. 

Ripley stated in a press release that his vision, “along with the rest of the leadership team, is in lock-step with Jesse’s – to accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrency.” 

Kraken has over 3,000 employees and has recently replaced other top executives.

The company hired Carrie Dolan as chief financial officer in March and then named Mayur Gupta its chief marketing officer in April.

Back in June, Kraken released a “culture document” that attempted to explain the company’s culture, which ended up being a controversial move.

Loading Tweet..

Kraken is the fourth-largest crypto exchange in terms of spot-trading volume, according to CoinMarketCap.

The exchange also has plans to launch its own NFT marketplace soon.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Nillion_DeSci_Report_Template.png

Research

Nillion’s Monad Integration is poised to catalyze the next phase of DeSci’s evolution by eliminating key privacy bottlenecks. This synergy allows researchers, institutions, and DAOs to exchange sensitive data and insights securely while managing governance and payments onchain.

article-image

Celebrating the wisdom of a diamond-handed Bitcoin Legend

article-image

With the success of RWAs and stablecoins, DePINs could onboard the next wave of crypto users

article-image

Is crypto straying too far from things of value?

article-image

Firedancer and Solana ETFs look less significant than before

article-image

The newly passed House bill amplifies that strategic pivot for the Trump administration, from attempting austerity to running the economy hot

article-image

Unable to secure further funding, the game cycled through three different blockchains and at least five different game engines since 2018