Kraken announced on September 21, 2022, that co-founder and chief executive Jesse Powell would step down, succeeded by chief operating officer Dave Ripley "after a rigorous internal and external search over the past year"1. Powell would become chairman of the board, the company's blog said, and CoinDesk reported that the Wall Street Journal had first broken the news2.
Five of Kraken's 10 leadership moves on the record came in 2022, its busiest year
Leadership moves CryptoLately has verified at Kraken, by year
- 2022: 5
- 2023, 2024, 2025
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 5 |
| 2023 | 1 |
| 2024 | 2 |
| 2025 | 2 |
18 CEO exits on the record in 2022
CEO exits CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2022: 18
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 7 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 11 |
| 2024 | 20 |
| 2025 | 20 |
| 2026 | 18 |
The move
Powell framed the handoff around Ripley's record. “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,” Powell said. “I look forward to spending more of my time on the company's products, user experience and broader industry advocacy.”1 Ripley answered in the same post. “My vision, along with the rest of the leadership team, is in lockstep with Jesse's — to accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrency,” he said.
CoinDesk reported that Powell denied his exit came from controversies earlier that year. He told Bloomberg he had informed Kraken's board of his plan "over a year ago." He called the real reason boredom. “As the company has gotten bigger, it's just gotten to be more draining on me, less fun,” Powell told Bloomberg, according to CoinDesk2.
Kraken before and after
Ripley joined Kraken through its acquisition of Glidera, a crypto wallet service he co-founded and led as CEO, the company's blog said1. He started his career as a software engineer and product manager. Boston Consulting Group hired him next, where he advised financial executives. As chief operating officer, Ripley grew Kraken from 50 to more than 3,000 employees. He completed more than 16 acquisitions and secured multiple regulatory licenses, the blog post said. Powell would stay chairman and keep working on products and crypto advocacy, Kraken said.
CoinDesk reported the controversies Powell had weathered that year. In June, he told unhappy employees to quit after criticizing "woke activists" inside the company. Reports surfaced in July that the U.S. Treasury Department was investigating Kraken for allegedly letting Iranian users trade on the platform2. Ripley takes over once Kraken hires someone to fill his old COO seat, CoinDesk reported.
What came next
Ripley ran Kraken alone for a little over two years. Kraken named Arjun Sethi co-CEO beside him on Nov. 3, 2024, MarcaMoney reported3. A separate federal investigation into Powell, over hacking allegations from a nonprofit he had co-founded, closed on April 8, 2025, prosecutors declining to bring charges, CoinDesk reported4. Powell remained a member of Kraken's board when CoinDesk reported that closure on July 22, 2025.
Sources
- Kraken Blog, "Kraken announces leadership succession plan," September 21, 2022, https://blog.kraken.com/news/kraken-announces-leadership-succession-plan
- Nelson Wang, Cheyenne Ligon, "Kraken's Jesse Powell to Step Down as CEO of Crypto Exchange," CoinDesk, September 21, 2022, https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/09/21/krakens-jesse-powell-to-step-down-as-ceo-of-crypto-exchange-report
- MarcaMoney, "Kraken appoints Arjun Sethi as co-CEO," MarcaMoney, Nov. 3, 2024, https://www.marcamoney.com/kraken-appoints-arjun-sethi-as-co-ceo/
- Camomile Shumba, "FBI Drops Criminal Probe Into Kraken Founder Jesse Powell," CoinDesk, July 22, 2025, https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/07/22/fbi-drops-criminal-probe-into-kraken-founder-jesse-powell