Kraken’s Layoffs Involve “Far More” Than What’s Being Shared, Redditor Claims

A redditor, using the MysteriousPlankton handle, has recently claimed Kraken, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, is “lying” about its recent layoffs. According to the redditor, the number of people fired is much larger than revealed, and affects all of its operations.

As CryptoGlobe recently covered, users on social media have been claiming Kraken suffered a security breach and was laying off some of its employees as a result. The thread that started the rumors, created by another user in a throwaway account, claimed they were being forced to sign forms to voluntarily quit their jobs.

While the exchange initially denied anything was going on, Kraken’s CEO Jesse Powell revealed 57 employees based in North America had been laid off in what was implied to be a “cost-saving measure,” that saw roughly 10% of its client services team leave the company.

MysteriousPlankton has now added that this “is purely false.” Per his Reddit post, Kraken tried to pay employees eight weeks of wages as a severance offer if they resigned – an offer that would be off the table if they didn’t accept it in time.

The redditor further claimed the company “swore up and down that everything was fine” before firing its employees. He added layoffs are more serious than implied:

We’re not just talking a “call center,” we’re talking 200+ staff that covered every aspect of the client experience at Kraken. KYC/AML, Security and Investigations, Deposits and Withdrawals, VIP Support, Trading, you name it.

The post ended claiming “there is far more that people aren’t sharing,” but that should be revealed in the near future. Responding to comments in the thread, MysteriousPlankton noted the company was obsessed with security, and that the offices in Halifax housed “an estimated 45%-50%” of the exchange’s client services team.

Per the thread, Kraken could be in hot water over its employees’ resignations as these were reportedly forced. This isn’t the first time it’s accused of breaking the law, as research has in the past suggested there was suspicious Tether (USDT) trading on the exchange. The exchange, as CryptoGlobe covered, fought back against the study’s allegations.

The initial rumors suggested Kraken suffered a security breach. CryptoGlobe looked into the exchange’s cold wallets and couldn’t find any suspiciously large withdrawal, although a breach could’ve also involved several small withdrawals.  Some have claimed the breach was at a physical location and not on its network.

The exchange, however, restated there was no security breach.

Thank you @CamiRusso for the accurate reporting. Never fun saying goodbye to team members but business needs change, and we try to give the departed a soft landing. To reiterate: there was no security breach. Impetus simply market conditions. https://t.co/qPQNf3P80T

— Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) September 6, 2018

Its support account further noted Kraken is “100% secure” and that it’s still leading in security within the crypto exchange industry.