Kraken Sheds ‘Hundreds’ of Jobs to Streamline Business Ahead of IPO, Sources Say

Crypto trade big Kraken has laid off a whole lot of staffers throughout all areas of the enterprise over the previous a number of months, because the agency continues to streamline its operations forward of a possible public itemizing within the U.S., in accordance to two individuals acquainted with the state of affairs.

Kraken was reported to have laid off 400 employees, or about 15% of its workforce, on the finish of October final yr, when Silicon Valley investor and Kraken board member Arjun Sethi grew to become co-CEO alongside David Ripley, who took the reins when former CEO Jesse Powell stepped down in 2023.

Since Sethi grew to become co-CEO, “hundreds more have gone,” stated an individual acquainted with the state of affairs, who pointed to a rolling program of firings over and above the 15% lower late final yr.

“They’re culling aggressively across all functions, and it’s a constant and ongoing thing. It’s about improving Kraken’s EBITA [earnings before interest, tax and amortization],” the particular person stated.

When the CEO position was cut up final yr, Sethi and Ripley stated in a weblog publish that there was a necessity to shed “organizational layers” that had collected in Kraken, and make the enterprise “leaner and faster.”

Several crypto companies are at present getting their homes so as to launch an preliminary public providing (IPO) this yr or early subsequent yr. Kraken has additionally been pushing for elevated revenues by buying companies corresponding to derivatives platform Ninja Trader, for example, and not too long ago asserting the addition of inventory buying and selling.

“Kraken’s business is thriving. We’re launching more new products than ever before, driving strong revenue growth, and rapidly expanding across our entire product portfolio — including through the agreement to acquire NinjaTrader, announced earlier this year,” a Kraken representative told CoinDesk.

“At the identical time, we repeatedly consider our workforce to guarantee it aligns with our strategic priorities. We’re approaching this with self-discipline and intention, making the troublesome resolution to remove sure roles and consolidate groups the place redundancies exist, whereas persevering with to rent in key areas of the enterprise,” the Kraken spokesperson stated.