According to reports from Bloomberg, Kraken has reportedly reduced its workforce by approximately 150 employees as the crypto exchange increases the use of artificial intelligence across its operations. The layoffs are tied to operational efficiencies created through AI deployment inside the company, whose corporate entity is known as Payward. As reported by Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter, Kraken is not preparing another round of cuts for now, even as AI tools are being adopted more aggressively across different teams.
According to Bloomberg reports, the latest restructuring could push Kraken's planned U.S. public listing into 2027. Earlier plans had already faced interruptions after the company confidentially filed paperwork with U.S. regulators in November before pausing the IPO process in March amid weakening crypto market conditions. At an industry conference last month, Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi confirmed that the exchange had confidentially filed for an IPO, although he did not provide a launch window for the listing.
The workforce reductions represent part of a broader trend across the crypto industry, with more than 5,000 crypto-related jobs reportedly cut this year. According to Bloomberg, pressure on crypto firms has continued to build this year as falling digital asset prices and rising automation costs reshape spending plans across the sector. Publicly traded crypto companies have already posted weaker first-quarter earnings after crypto markets lost momentum late last year.
Earlier this month, Coinbase announced it would reduce about 14% of its workforce as part of what CEO Brian Armstrong described as a push toward becoming "lean, fast, and AI-native." As reported by Bloomberg, Armstrong said AI tools were allowing engineers to complete work in days that previously took weeks and added that non-technical employees were increasingly shipping production code through automated workflows. Under Coinbase's restructuring plan, the company said it would remove layers of management, limit the organization to five levels below the CEO and COO, and test smaller AI-focused operational teams.
Other exchanges have also announced significant reductions this year. According to Bloomberg, Gemini disclosed plans to lay off roughly 200 employees while shutting down operations in the UK, the European Union, and Australia. The exchange linked the decision to mounting losses, IPO-related spending, and weaker crypto market conditions after Bitcoin dropped below $70,000. Separately, crypto analytics platform Dune said this week that it had cut 25% of its staff as part of a restructuring focused on core products.
