A decision was made by the cryptocurrency exchange, known as Kraken to close its headquarters in Abu Dhabi less than a year after getting authorization to conduct business there from local authorities.
According to an article that was released by Bloomberg on February 2, it was announced that Kraken had closed its office in Abu Dhabi, which resulted in the dismissal of approximately eight members of the team that specialized in the Middle East and North Africa. This news came as a result of the closure of the office (MENA). The exchange has been authorized to provide services at that location ever since April 2022, when it was awarded a license to operate in the Abu Dhabi international financial center and the Abu Dhabi Global Market. This took place prior to the market decline that resulted in a significant number of crypto companies suffering losses.
After announcing in November that it intended to reduce its personnel by more than 30 percent, or the equivalent of more than 1,000 individuals, in an effort to weather the crypto winter, Kraken is rumored to have moved its operations to the Middle East. As a result of the layoffs, the scale of the exchange has returned to where it was in 2021, before it saw significant growth, according to Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell. Powell came to the conclusion that he should stand down from his position as CEO; but, as he said back in September, he will continue to serve as board chair.
The 31st of January marked the beginning of Kraken’s complete exit from the Japanese market. Since April 2018, this is the second time that the exchange has discontinued operations in a significant economy in Asia. The company said in December that a decision had been made as part of the process of resource allocation. As grounds for the move, the company cited “current market conditions in Japan” and a “poor crypto market internationally.”
