Kraken Taps Former N26 and Coinbase Execs for Key Positions
Crypto exchange Kraken has announced the hiring of a former N26 Chief Product Officer and a former Coinbase Managing Director.
In an statement published on January 25th, Kraken announced it had hired Gilles BianRosa and Marcus Hughes to strengthen its leadership team.
The company said the hires would help situate the company for “continued growth amid evolving global regulatory environments.”
BianRosa, formerly Chief Product Officer at German neobank N26, will serve as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer, reporting to the Kraken CEO David Ripley.
During his tenure at N26, he successfully introduced cryptocurrency trading in the neobank’s primary markets. Before joining N26, Gilles served as the Chief Product Officer at SoundCloud and spearheaded the content and services division at Samsung Electronics.
“Gilles has a proven track record of delivering innovative products across global organizations with velocity,” Ripley said in the announcement. “Combined with his strategic insight, this will enable us to continue carrying out our mission of making crypto accessible to the next billion people through Kraken’s leading products and services.”
After holding the position of Managing Director of Europe and General Counsel for international expansion at Coinbase, Hughes is set to become Kraken’s Global Head of Regulatory Strategy. Before his tenure at Coinbase, Hughes amassed nearly a decade of experience at Morgan Stanley.
“There’s no one better equipped to help Kraken navigate the complexities of a fragmented and fast evolving regulatory landscape than Marcus,” Ripley said. “He will be instrumental in ensuring our offering meets the highest regulatory standards so we can offer our products and services across the globe.”
Kraken Prepares for Crypto Evolution
The CEO noted that the hiring of BianRosa and Hughes would help Ripley prepare for the next stage of growth in crypto.
“As we get ready for the next phase of growth in crypto markets, we need to ensure we can quickly adapt to rapidly changing market trends while navigating an increasingly complex and divergent regulatory landscape,” Ripley said in the announcement. “We will be innovating, launching new products, entering new markets and continuously improving our offering, all while ensuring compliance with applicable regulatory requirements across the many markets we operate in,” he added.
