Kraken sheds ‘organizational layers’ as board member Arjun Sethi steps up as co-CEO

Kraken, the sixth largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, has gone through a round of layoffs, a representative confirmed to The Block. The news comes as Arjun Sethi was announced as co-CEO to accelerate growth alongside current CEO David Ripley.

“We are also rolling out changes fundamentally changing how we innovate, build and roll out products for clients,” the co-CEOs wrote in a blog announcing Sethi’s appointment on Wednesday. “As we’ve grown north of $1 billion in net revenue as a remote organization worldwide, we fell into the trap of building organizational layers.”

According to the blog, the company became too top-heavy, with corporate agency and decision-making tilted toward management. “We are making organizational discipline decisions to tackle this problem and eliminate layers,” they wrote. “We need to be leaner and faster.”

New York Times tech reporter Mike Issac posted on X that two internal sources said Kraken laid off 15% of its workforce. A Kraken representative declined to comment on the figure.

“Making organizational changes is never easy, and we understand their profound impact on people’s lives. We deeply appreciate those who helped us get here and for their many contributions, and we will support them during this transition,” Kraken’s blog post said.

The move comes amid a renewed wave of layoffs in the crypto industry

This including at Ethereum development firm Consensys and decentralized derivatives platform dYdX, which also recently appointed a new CEO.

Kraken’s decision to downsize appears to be part and parcel of a trend that’s spread across the tech industry. Beginning with Elon Musk’s mass layoffs at Twitter, a number of major tech firms including Amazon, Intel and Meta began to pivot to a leaner organizational structure.

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“Arjun has served on the Kraken board since 2021 and has helped us navigate a lot of our toughest challenges,” Jesse Powell, Kraken co-founder and board chair, said in a statement. “That’s why I fully trust him to inject new leadership and momentum into what we’re doing.”

“He’s someone who gets things done and you can see that through the many companies he’s helped in his career, as a founder and as an investor,” Powell continued.

Kraken, previously to Kraken sheds ‘organizational layers’, cut 30% of its staff to weather the crypto winter in November 2022.

Sethi previously served as chief executive at Lolapps, and left the firm after a round of layoffs at the social gaming company. In September 2022, he co-founded a crypto derivatives trading protocol named Nibiru. He is also one of three founders of Tribe Capital, which was started after Sethi left Social Capital as a partner.