Dave Ripley is a crypto exchange executive who serves as co-CEO of Kraken, one of the longest-running digital asset trading platforms. He is known for helping scale Kraken’s operations through multiple market cycles, first as chief operating officer and later as chief executive. Ripley’s tenure has overlapped with a period in which large exchanges faced tightening regulatory scrutiny, higher security expectations, and growing demand to expand beyond spot crypto trading into adjacent financial products.
Overview
Ripley joined Kraken through the company’s acquisition of Glidera, a crypto brokerage and wallet services business he co-founded. After moving into a senior operating role, he became a central figure in Kraken’s leadership transition from founder-led execution to a structure aimed at scaling product delivery and operational rigor. Since October 2024, Kraken has operated with a co-CEO model that includes Ripley and Arjun Sethi.
- Current role: Co-CEO, Kraken
- Previously: Chief Operating Officer, Kraken
- Known for: Operational scaling, product execution, and navigating regulatory and market shifts
History and Background
Ripley’s background combines product, engineering, and strategy consulting. CryptoSlate’s profile notes that he held roles in software engineering and product management at Syclo, a mobile enterprise software company later acquired by SAP. He later worked at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as a principal, advising executive teams at large corporations on strategic priorities across multiple industries, including technology and financial services.
In crypto, Ripley is closely associated with Glidera, which Kraken acquired in 2016 as exchanges competed to broaden consumer access and strengthen onboarding infrastructure. The acquisition connected Ripley to Kraken’s leadership bench at a time when the industry was shifting from early retail experimentation toward more durable, compliance-aware market infrastructure.
Leadership at Kraken
Kraken announced a CEO succession plan in 2022 and completed the transition in April 2023, when Ripley assumed the CEO role and co-founder Jesse Powell moved to chairman. CryptoSlate covered the appointment and described the transition as part of Kraken’s effort to position itself for a new phase of growth and product expansion.
In October 2024, Kraken expanded its top leadership structure by appointing Arjun Sethi as co-CEO amid a broader internal restructuring intended to reduce organizational layers and increase speed of execution. CryptoSlate reported that the reorganization was designed to streamline operations and reinforce a focus on product innovation and accountability.
Strategic Direction and Product Expansion
Under Ripley’s leadership era, Kraken has increasingly emphasized expansion into regulated, multi-asset capabilities. In 2025, the exchange agreed to acquire NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, a move framed as a pathway to expand U.S. derivatives access through existing regulatory registrations. CryptoSlate characterized the transaction as Kraken’s largest deal to date and part of a broader effort to bridge traditional markets and crypto trading infrastructure.
- Kraken acquires NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion
- Kraken expands beyond crypto, launches stock trading in the U.S.
CryptoSlate has also reported on Kraken’s continued interest in funding options tied to long-term corporate strategy, including reports that the firm explored debt financing ahead of a potential public listing timeline. These reports are commonly discussed as part of a wider trend in which large exchanges seek more conventional capital structures and broader product portfolios.
Education
CryptoSlate’s profile lists Ripley as holding a graduate business degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This combination of technical training and management education is common among executives responsible for scaling highly regulated, security-sensitive platforms.
Risks and Considerations
Exchange leadership is shaped by evolving risks across security, compliance, and market integrity. For centralized platforms, operational risk includes custody controls, incident response, and resilience under extreme volatility. Regulatory risk includes changing expectations for listing standards, staking services, derivatives access, and consumer protection rules across jurisdictions. Kraken’s expansion into derivatives and equities-adjacent products can broaden addressable markets, but it also increases the complexity of licensing, oversight, and internal governance. Ripley’s role is therefore closely tied to balancing product expansion with the operational discipline required in an environment where exchange failures can have immediate and widespread user impact.
