Kraken announced layoffs as the crypto exchange looks to restructure and become leaner. The number of affected roles is unclear. The exchange aims to reshape itself to stay competitive in the fast-growing space. Arjun Sethi has been appointed as co-CEO.

 Kraken announced layoffs Wednesday as the crypto exchange looks to shift its organizational structuring.    It wasn’t immediately clear how many roles were impacted, and a Kraken spokesperson declined to comment.    New York Times reporter Mike Isaac said 15% of roles were impacted, citing sources.     kraken just cut 15% of its workforce, per two people inside&mdash; rat king 🐀 (@MikeIsaac) October 30, 2024     “As we’ve grown north of $1 billion in net revenue as a remote organization worldwide, we fell into the trap of building organizational layers. We put managers in charge of the successes or failures of the groups they controlled, and we predicated success based on siloed P&amp;Ls,” a blog post said.    “At its best, this structure can provide clear paths for ‘managers’ whereby they can move from smaller, less complex areas of focus to progressively larger and more complex ones. So, ‘managers’ are incentivized to do the wrong thing.”    The exchange said that it needed to get “leaner” as it moves forward, echoing a sentiment heard from Consensys CEO Joe Lubin when he announced that his firm laid off 20% of its staff on Tuesday.    Read more: dYdX, Consensys layoffs shake up the space    “Looking ahead, I see a next generation economy not dominated by large monolithic companies; instead, smaller, agile, AI-supercharged companies with Web3-based coordination tools will operate more efficiently. To stay competitive in this fast-growing space, we need to reshape ourselves and be more agile, more effective and even higher-performing,” Lubin said.    Additionally, Kraken appointed Arjun Sethi as co-CEO of the firm, who will join Dave Ripley in helming the exchange. Sethi previously served on Kraken’s board.    Perp exchange dYdX also announced layoffs on Tuesday, announcing a reduction of 35%. According to its website, dYdX employed roughly 50 employees.    Blockworks reported last week that Helium’s parent firm laid off 40% of its staff back in August and Matter Labs told Blockworks that it let go of 16% of its staff back in September.    The news comes after Kraken announced it was launching its own layer-2 called Ink, somewhat following in the footsteps of a competitor. Coinbase launched its own layer-2, Base, last year. Unlike Base, Ink plans to bring new users to DeFi.        Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.    Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.    Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.    The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus. 

Kraken Announces Layoffs and New Co-CEO