Kraken Appoints Stephanie Lemmerman as New CFO amid Expansion and Challenges
According to Businesswire, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, Kraken has signed Stephanie Lemmerman as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer. Lemmerman, who joins the company after Carrie Dolan left earlier this year, brings a great deal of experience onto Kraken’s leadership team amid a strategic period of expansion and market adaptation.
Lemmerman’s Expertise in Fintech and Crypto
Lemmerman was the CFO at Dapper Labs, where she played a major influence in the financial leading of the company with respect to blockchain and the NFT market. Her time at Dapper Labs, along with her insight into the wider fintech environment, makes her a great fit for Kraken’s ambitious objectives. She will stay on the board at Dapper Labs and continue the partnership between the companies with her new role.
A Vision for Growth: Kraken’s Aspirations to be Public
Appointing Lemmerman speaks volumes about the long-term vision Kraken has in its intent to become a publicly listed entity. “Stephanie’s experience covers high growth industry verticals like fintech, gaming, and consumer crypto. She is among the most razor-sharp financial strategists in the business,” said Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Kraken along with Dave Ripley. According to Ripley, this move underlines the strategic key direction demonstrating them commitment toward knitting the bridges between traditional finance and decentralized technologies.
Global Expansion and Addressing Workforce Adjustments
Lemmerman’s arrival comes at a time of international expansion and executive shake-ups for them. The company earlier this week announced that it would adopt a dual-CEO arrangement, adding Arjun Sethi as co-CEO to work alongside Dave Ripley. That move brought with it significant layoffs: out the door went some 400 workers, among them several C-suite executives. But Kraken has kept on hiring in major ways, continuing to expand its European footprint by buying up Dutch cryptocurrency broker Coin Meester B.V. (BCM).
Regulatory Shifts hit hard in the Crypto Industry-on
More regulation has also trailed the cryptocurrency space, and them seems set to adapt to this. With the European Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation just around the corner, recent forays into regulated markets by Kraken have placed it in the perfect spot to take advantage of such opportunities. The company promised to keep a tab on compliance after challenges from U.S. regulators, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, skeptical of its offerings.
The restructuring at Kraken reflects the broader trends in the industry, with other firms like Consensys and dYdX having already enacted layoffs on account of regulatory pressures and market demands.
