Jesse Powell is to step down as CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken and become its chairman.
COO Dave Ripley will succeed Powell, who co-founded the business in 2011, once Kraken has identified a new COO.
Powell told Bloomberg that he first revealed his intention to step aside to the board over a year ago.
“As the company has gotten bigger, it’s just gotten to be more draining on me, less fun,” he said.
Powell came under fire this year for criticising “woke activists” within the company while Kraken has been investigated by the US Treasury Department for allegedly allowing Iranian users to use the platform in violation of international sanctions.
Kraken’s website states that its services are not available to users in Iran.
Ripley has served as Kraken’s COO for six years, helping to grow the company from 50 to more than 3,000 workers, complete more than 16 acquisitions and secure a significant number of global regulatory licences and partnerships.
He joined through its acquisition of Glidera, a crypto wallet funding service where he was co-founder and CEO.
“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,” said Powell. “I look forward to spending more of my time on the company’s products, user experience and broader industry advocacy.”
Ripley added: “United by our crypto-first culture, we will empower people to transact and connect in new ways.
“My vision, along with the rest of the leadership team, is in lockstep with Jesse’s – to accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrency.”
Over the past 11 years, Kraken has evolved from a bitcoin exchange into a crypto platform offering a suite of trading tools and educational resources, staking services, futures trading and an OTC desk. It will soon launch an NFT marketplace.