Kraken lays off 15% of its workforce, including its COO and CTO, to make the company leaner and faster

In a bid to become leaner and faster, crypto exchange Kraken has announced staff cuts as part of its restructuring.

The company has also recently welcomed co-founder of Tribe Capital, Arjun Sethi, as co-CEO and announced “organizational discipline decisions” aimed at tackling internal challenges. Sethi has also been a member of the Kraken board since 2021. He will share the top position at Kraken with David Ripley.

Kraken’s statement and social media commentary indicate the layoffs primarily affected C-suite executives and managers. Among those who were axed include major talents like COO Gilles BianRosa and CTO Patankar.

In a blog post, Kraken noted that some organizational structures had hindered team leaders’ ability to innovate.

“Our goal is to ensure our top contributors focus on building, not managing. This means empowering our leaders to create exceptional products, make data-driven decisions that benefit our clients, and foster a culture of accountability across engineering, product, and design teams,” the company shared.

Mass layoffs throughout crypto industry

Kraken last implemented layoffs was back in November 2022, when it cut 1,100 people, or 30% of its workforce due to a crypto market downturn and high-profile bankruptcies like FTX's collapse.

But the company did provide those affected with severance pay and other benefits. The exchange started hiring again in mid-2024.

Kraken is the third U.S.-based crypto firm to downsize recently, though its reasons differ. Ethereum infrastructure provider ConsenSys, creator of MetaMask, cut 20% of its staff due to regulatory pressures and macroeconomic factors, according to CEO Joe Lubin.

Meanwhile, dYdX, a decentralized derivatives exchange, laid off 35% of its workforce shortly after CEO Antonio Juliano’s return, impacting several core team members.