My watch has ended. After five years as Kraken’s Chief Legal Officer, I’m passing on the reins to a successor. I’ll stay close as a senior advisor. I’m going to help train up a successor and help to build a global advisory council for the company. I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve achieved together as a team and I look forward to the next era of Kraken’s success. When I joined as Kraken’s first CLO five years ago, there were four lawyers at the company. Four. Now, my legal team is almost seventy-strong, and has been for some time. We brought this force to bear on the biggest, most intractable problems in crypto. I won’t reveal the size of the team’s annual budget. I’ll just say: Debanking and Chokepoint 2.0, the SEC run amok, stablecoin solvency controversies, class actions, the DCCPA, IP trolls, antitrust allegations, the Anti-crypto Army, the Travel Rule, the Broker Rule, SAB 121… Just think about all the tough stuff that warrants a division of SEVENTY full-time, stone-cold socratic assassins. Not just lawyers, but policy professionals too. We built a garrison of full time, in-house lobbyists and government relations teams in Washington, London and Brussels. In just a few years, we went from wondering “Gee golly what is the government going to do to us?” to drafting new, fairer laws and simply ousting the politicians who used us as political punching bags. We’ve built and now manage over 40 operating entities in god knows how many jurisdictions. We secured almost a hundred licenses and registrations. VASPs! MTLs! EMIs! Then we had to work closely with regulators to actually maintain them. I have now met every financial regulator on the planet and can say with perfect authority that they are, by and large, lovely people. We won the USA’s first crypto bank charter. A crypto bank! Those words strung together would have been incomprehensible in 2012 when I took on my first crypto (Bitcoin) client. Then we launched it and it now has its own clients. Wild. We launched an L2! We launched a wallet! We signed decamillions in marketing deals and now there’s a purple F1 car with our logo on it. The 2012 mind cannot possible comprehend this. We distributed the GOX funds! We soundly - and publicly - defeated the SEC’s “cryptoasset security” fiction in federal court. A lot has happened in the last five years because five years is an eternity in crypto time. I’ve watched as a whole ecosystem of fascinating projects has grown up around me. In my next role, I want to get out there and be a bigger part of it. So yes, my watch has ended. But it’s also just begun. David Ripley, Jesse Powell it’s been an honor working with you both. Couldn’t have asked for stronger leadership through historic times. Arjun Sethi you’re going to crush it as co-ceo. You’ve got the energy and the vision to help take the team to the next level. The team is strong and Kraken’s future simply couldn’t be brighter.
David Ripley
1y
Incredible run at Kraken to go with a decade+ career bringing crypto to the world. Thank you Marco Santori for everything you've done for Kraken and the growth of Bitcoin, crypto, and the industry. Looking forward to more good things ahead!
Thanks for all you did for Kraken and the industry. Best of luck in what’s next!
Pete Rizzo
1y
A legendary run
Franklin Bi
1y
What an epic run! Congrats Marco
Colin M.
1y
I appreciate you and everything you do. Please remember the little people on your path forward to greatness!
Growing Kraken’s legal team from four to nearly seventy and tackling pivotal challenges like regulatory compliance and policy reform is no small feat. The crypto bank charter stands out as a milestone that must have required immense coordination and foresight. Having navigated legal complexities in my own work, I’ve seen how vital it is to stay proactive in shaping fairer policies while managing daily demands. How did you prioritize between immediate issues and the long-term vision when scaling the team and strategy?
Flavia Naves
1y
My dear friend Marco Santori, I cannot wait to see what marvelous things are coming up for you! Congratulations on this amazing milestone
What a crazy ride … had they told us in 2015 we would be instrumental in changing the world a decade on … we would have laughed … but he who laughs last laughs the loudest … good luck Marco it’s an honour to be your friend
Yours is the journey and story of Crypto Law. Look forward to the next chapter!
“Stone Cold Socratic Assassin” Best line of the year.