Coinbase vs Kraken: Founders, CEOs and History
Coinbase was founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong, Fred Ehrsam and is led by Brian Armstrong. Kraken was founded in 2011 by Jesse Powell, Thanh Luu and is led by Arjun Sethi and Dave Ripley (co-CEOs).
Company facts
Founders
Coinbase
Brian Armstrong
Brian Armstrong co-founded Coinbase in 2012 after reading the Bitcoin whitepaper and concluding that buying and storing bitcoin was too hard for ordinary people.
Fred Ehrsam
Fred Ehrsam co-founded Coinbase with Brian Armstrong in 2012 and helped shape its early trading, banking and fundraising work. He stepped back from operations in January 2017 but has remained a member of Coinbase's board.
Kraken
Jesse Powell
Jesse Powell is a highly controversial American cryptocurrency pioneer and the profoundly influential founding patriarch fundamentally responsible for building the massive Kraken digital asset exchange.
Thanh Luu
Thanh Luu is a highly brilliant software engineer and the profoundly influential technical co-founder fundamentally responsible for programming the absolute structural bedrock of the massive Kraken cryptocurrency exchange.
CEOs and their tenures
Coinbase
- Brian Armstrong2012–present
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Co-founded Coinbase in 2012 and has led it as CEO ever since, taking it from a Y Combinator bitcoin wallet to a Nasdaq-listed, S&P 500 crypto exchange and infrastructure company.
Source - Fred Ehrsam2012–2017
Co-Founder
Co-founded Coinbase in 2012 and brought trading experience from Goldman Sachs. He stepped back from operations in 2017, remains a Coinbase director, and co-founded crypto investor Paradigm in 2018.
Source - Emilie Choi2018–present
President and Chief Operating Officer
Joined Coinbase in 2018 to lead corporate and business development after senior roles at LinkedIn, and now oversees operations as President and COO.
- Alesia Haas2018–present
Chief Financial Officer
CFO since 2018, previously CFO of Sculptor Capital (Och-Ziff) and OneWest Bank; led the 2021 direct listing and capital management.
- Paul Grewal2020–present
Chief Legal Officer
Former U.S. magistrate judge and Facebook deputy general counsel who led Coinbase's defense in the SEC lawsuit.
Kraken
- Dave Ripley2023–present
Co-Chief Executive Officer
Professionalised Kraken's licensing and institutional business ahead of its planned IPO; co-CEO with Arjun Sethi since October 2024.
Source - Arjun Sethi2024–present
Co-Chief Executive Officer
Co-founder and chairman of venture firm Tribe Capital. Appointed co-CEO of Kraken in October 2024, sharing the role with David Ripley.
Source
Timeline: Coinbase and Kraken side by side
2011Kraken
Jesse Powell Founds Kraken After Mt. Gox Security Inspection
Jesse Powell and Thanh Luu incorporate Payward Inc. (Kraken) in San Francisco after Powell observes catastrophic security flaws at Mt. Gox in Tokyo.
2012Coinbase
Company Founded via Y Combinator
Brian Armstrong took Coinbase through Y Combinator's Summer 2012 batch and co-founded it with Fred Ehrsam. The service launched in October 2012, letting U.S. users buy bitcoin with a linked bank account, which few rivals offered at the time.
2013Coinbase
Andreessen Horowitz Leads $25M Series B
Andreessen Horowitz led a $25 million Series B at a valuation of approximately $143 million, the largest crypto venture investment to date and a signal that mainstream Silicon Valley was taking cryptocurrency seriously.
2013Kraken
Kraken Exchange Public Beta Launch
Following two years of rigorous security testing, Kraken publicly launches its spot cryptocurrency exchange offering Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Euro trading pairs.
2014Kraken
Pioneered World's First Cryptographic Proof of Reserves Audit
Kraken executes the world's first mathematically verifiable cryptographic Proof of Reserves audit using Merkle trees, proving customer balances are fully backed 1:1.
2014Kraken
Selected by Mt. Gox Bankruptcy Trustee
The Tokyo District Court appoints Kraken to assist the Mt. Gox bankruptcy trustee in investigating lost Bitcoin and distributing recovered funds to creditors.
2015Coinbase
Receives New York BitLicense
Coinbase was among the first companies granted New York's BitLicense, the state's crypto-specific regulatory framework. The approval reinforced its compliance-first positioning in the U.S. market.
2017Coinbase
Surpasses 10 Million Users
Coinbase crossed 10 million users in 2017 as bitcoin approached $20,000, and its app reached the top of Apple's U.S. App Store in December 2017. Rapid growth also strained the platform, leading to outages and support backlogs.
2018Coinbase
Launches Coinbase Custody for Institutions
Coinbase launched Coinbase Custody, a regulated institutional-grade custody product designed to meet the fiduciary requirements of hedge funds, family offices, and eventually public pension funds.
2019Kraken
Acquisition of Crypto Facilities for $100 Million
Acquires UK FCA-regulated derivatives platform Crypto Facilities for $100M, launching Kraken Futures for regulated digital asset derivatives trading.
2020Kraken
Awarded First US SPDI Bank Charter in Wyoming
The Wyoming State Banking Board approves Kraken's application for a Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) charter, creating Kraken Bank as America's first regulated crypto bank.
2021Coinbase
Nasdaq Direct Listing
Coinbase listed on Nasdaq through a direct listing on April 14, 2021. Shares opened at $381 against a $250 reference price and the company ended its first day valued at about $86 billion, making it the first major U.S. crypto exchange to go public.
2021Coinbase
Reports Record $7.8B Revenue and $3.6B Net Income
Fiscal year 2021 produced Coinbase's strongest financial results in its history, with net revenue of $7.8 billion and net income of $3.6 billion driven by a retail crypto buying wave and Bitcoin prices reaching $69,000.
2021Kraken
Relaunch of Automated Real-Time Proof of Reserves
Rolls out an advanced semi-annual cryptographic Proof of Reserves framework allowing any individual client to mathematically verify their account balances via Merkle tree hashes.
2022Coinbase
Navigates Industry Crisis; Workforce Reduction
The Terra/Luna and FTX collapses and a deep crypto bear market cut Coinbase's revenue from $7.84 billion in 2021 to about $3.19 billion in 2022.
2023Coinbase
Launches Base Layer 2 Blockchain
Coinbase opened Base, an Ethereum layer-2 network built on Optimism's OP Stack, to the public in August 2023.
2023Coinbase
SEC Files Lawsuit Against Coinbase
The SEC sued Coinbase in June 2023, alleging it operated as an unregistered exchange, broker and clearing agency and that its staking program was an unregistered security. Coinbase contested the case, and in February 2025 the SEC agreed to dismiss it.
2023Kraken
David Ripley Appointed Chief Executive Officer
David Ripley succeeds founder Jesse Powell as CEO, steering corporate preparation for an eventual initial public offering while Powell transitions to Chairman.
2024Coinbase
Bitcoin Spot ETFs Approved; Coinbase Named Primary Custodian
The SEC approved U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, and Coinbase was named custodian for eight of the eleven initial funds, including BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust.
2024Coinbase
Reports $6.56B Revenue and $2.58B Net Income
FY2024 total revenue was $6.56 billion, roughly double FY2023's $3.11 billion, with net income of about $2.58 billion. ETF-driven trading, higher crypto prices and stablecoin income all contributed.
2024Kraken
Unveiling of Ink: Ethereum Layer-2 Optimism Superchain Network
Announces Ink, a dedicated Layer-2 blockchain built on Optimism's OP Stack to bridge traditional finance with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
2025Coinbase
Joins the S&P 500
Coinbase was added to the S&P 500 in May 2025, replacing Discover Financial and becoming the first crypto-native company in the index.
2025Coinbase
Completes $2.9B Deribit Acquisition
Coinbase closed its acquisition of Deribit, the largest crypto options exchange, in August 2025 for about $2.9 billion in cash and stock. FY2025 revenue reached $7.18 billion and net income $1.26 billion.
2025Kraken
NinjaTrader Acquisition for $1.5 Billion
Payward bought US futures broker NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, its largest deal, adding CFTC-regulated futures and a large active-trader base.
2026Coinbase
Cuts 14% of Staff Amid Crypto Slump
After a $394 million net loss in Q1 2026, Coinbase announced in May 2026 that it would cut about 700 jobs, roughly 14% of its workforce, citing market volatility and AI-driven changes to how it works.
2026Kraken
Nasdaq Invests $100 Million at $21 Billion Valuation
In September 2026 Nasdaq Ventures agreed to invest $100 million in Payward, reportedly at a $21 billion valuation, with plans to launch tokenized equities together in 2027.
Acquisitions
Coinbase
- Deribit2025$2.9B
- Echo2025Undisclosed
- One River Digital Asset Management2023Undisclosed
- FairX2022Undisclosed
- Bison Trails2021Undisclosed
- Tagomi2020Undisclosed
Kraken
- Bitnomial2026$550M
- NinjaTrader2025$1.5B
- Staked2021Undisclosed
- Crypto Facilities (Kraken Futures)2019$100M
- Coinsetter & Cavirtex2016Undisclosed
Questions about Coinbase vs Kraken
Who is the CEO of Coinbase Global and Kraken?
Coinbase Global is led by Brian Armstrong and Kraken is led by Arjun Sethi and Dave Ripley (co-CEOs). Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Coinbase Global founded vs Kraken?
Kraken was founded in 2011 — 1 year before Coinbase Global, which was founded in 2012. Kraken's longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Coinbase Global.
How many employees does Coinbase Global have compared to Kraken?
Coinbase Global employs approximately 4,951 people, while Kraken employs approximately 2,600. Coinbase Global has the larger workforce at 4,951 employees, compared to Kraken's 2,600. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Coinbase Global and Kraken headquartered?
Both Coinbase Global and Kraken are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded Coinbase Global and Kraken?
Coinbase Global was founded by Brian Armstrong, Fred Ehrsam. Kraken was founded by Jesse Powell, Thanh Luu.
Which company has a longer operating history — Coinbase Global or Kraken?
Kraken has been operating for approximately 15 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Coinbase Global has been in operation for around 14 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Coinbase vs Kraken overview