By Pritam Biswas and Ateeev Bhandari
(Reuters) – Kraken, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, is restructuring its workforce by reducing several positions, integrating teams with redundancy and integrating teams that continue to employ in key regions, a company spokesperson said Thursday.
“We will continue to evaluate our workforce to ensure that it aligns with our strategic priorities,” the spokesman said.
Last year, Kraken appointed Arjun Sethi as co-CEO, announcing a 15% reduction in its employees, affecting around 400 employees.
This followed the release of a civil lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in March, which accused Kraken of illegally operating as an unregistered stock exchange.
In a statement on that blog, Kraken called the firing a turning point for cryptocurrency. This concluded a “vain, politically motivated campaign” that began during the Biden administration and thwarted both innovation and investment.
“Kraken’s business is thriving. We launch more new products than ever before, drive large revenue growth and expand rapidly across our product portfolio.
In March, Cryptocurrency Exchange said it would buy retail futures trading platform Ninjatrader for $1.5 billion in a transaction that will allow it to expand its user base by expanding its asset class.
The San Francisco, California-based company began its latest move to diversify its offerings by launching a phased nationwide rollout from fee-free transactions of more than 11,000 US-listed stocks and exchange trade funds on Monday.
Crypto companies such as Kraken are investigating expansion into traditional financial spaces encouraged by US President Donald Trump’s more industry-friendly regulatory promises.
Kraken did not provide a specific number for the layoffs, but earlier in the day, the number could be “hundreds.”
(Reporting by Pritam Biswas of Bengaluru, edited by Tasim Zahid)