Senior Kraken employees are moving on to big things at other crypto firms
In recent months, it appears one particular crypto giant has been a font of talent for others. Multiple senior figures at digital asset exchange Kraken have been poached for director and even executive roles at other top fintechs.
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The most recent to leave is Lana Sinelnikova, Kraken's UK chief compliance officer. She worked there for two years, joining from Revolut, where she was group head of trading compliance. Sinelnikova joins Binance as risk assessment and board governance director for product compliance.
Another recent departure is in New York: head of operations and strategy Sid Vaswanath. He joins crypto news and insights company Blockworks as its COO. In Miami, Kraken director of product Eric Kuhn has left to become head of Onchain at Gemini, the exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins.
It's not all outgoings at Kraken; it's been hiring too. Ben Reid joined from wealth management fintech M1 as global head of business development last month, as did MD Steve Kramer, formerly a director at MUFG.
Reviews on Glassdoor for Kraken are mostly glowing, with a 4.5 star rating on average, but when criticisms are levelled they're usually against management. 2024 reviews say the company has "nosedived" since the departure of CEO Jesse Powell last April; they claim that the company is becoming increasingly bureaucratic, and new managers have been "trying too hard to 'leave their mark'". Positive reviews praise the firm's remote-first policy, and the hardworking nature of staff, saying "no one's phoning it in."
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