Kraken announced on Oct. 30 a round of layoffs described as “organizational changes” designed to streamline operations, refocus its mission, and appointed Tribe Capital co-founder Arjun Sethi as its co-CEO. The exchange stated that the changes aim to reduce bureaucracy, eliminate managerial layers, and renew the emphasis on product innovation, data-driven decision-making, and accountability across its engineering, product, and design teams.
Kraken emphasized the need to reduce “organizational layers” to ensure top contributors focus on building and innovating rather than managing. The reshaped structure will be “leaner and faster,” enabling more nimble, client-centered decisions and empowering leaders to enhance the company’s global crypto offerings.
The exchange remains committed to driving global crypto adoption despite the layoffs, positioning itself as a bridge between traditional finance and the digital world. The layoffs come less than a week after Kraken announced its Ethereum-based layer-2 blockchain, Ink, which will tap Optimism’s infrastructure technology due to a 25 million OP tokens deal with the Optimism Foundation.
This is the third layoff round among crypto companies this week, with Consensys laying off 20% of its staff on Oct. 29, citing restructuring efforts. Meanwhile, dYdX CEO Antonio Juliano announced that the DEX would reduce its workforce by 35% as part of its decision to “go back to startup mode.”