Kraken’s Jesse Powell under federal investigation but exchange remains uninvolved Kraken’s Jesse Powell under federal investigation but exchange remains uninvolved
Powell is currently involved in a civil dispute with the Verge Center for the Arts, a non-profit art gallery.
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Updated: Jul. 7, 2023 at 11:20 am UTC
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Crypto exchange Kraken told CryptoSlate it is not part of the current federal investigations into its co-founder Jesse Powell, according to a July 7 press statement.
Powell is the subject of Federal Investigations.
Powell is currently involved in a civil dispute with the Verge Center for the Arts, a non-profit art gallery. This news was confirmed to CryptoSlate by people familiar with the matter.
The dispute revolves around allegations made by Powell, who claims that Verge improperly removed him from its Board of directors and subsequently accused him of unauthorized access to its email system following his dismissal.
The news was first reported by the New York Times.
Kraken is aware of the investigations.
A Kraken spokesperson confirmed to CryptoSlate that the exchange was aware of the federal investigations.
“We understand there is a federal investigation open and search warrants were executed to gather more information about the Verge matter.”
In its press statement, a Kraken spokesperson said the firm was not implicated in the ongoing investigation, nor does the investigation pertain to Powell’s former role at the exchange.
The spokesperson said:
“The US Attorney has advised us that Kraken is not a part of the investigation in any way, and the investigation does not concern Jesse’s affiliation with Kraken.”
Powell is Kraken’s co-founder and was the company’s CEO until April when he transitioned to a non-executive role as the chairman of the exchange’s Board. Dave Ripley succeeded Powell as Kraken’s CEO.
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Kraken
Kraken is a San Francisco-based digital asset exchange in euro volume and liquidity that trades various currencies, including Canadian dollars, US dollars, British pounds, and Japanese yen.
Jesse Powell is an expert in virtual currencies, online/international payments and fraud, as well as co-founder and former CEO of Kraken, one of the most trusted and largest Bitcoin exchanges in the world with number one EUR market share.
David Ripley is the CEO of Kraken, a San Francisco-based digital asset exchange.
