Kraken Appoints COO/CPO and Global Head of Regulatory Strategy to Fuel Growth

​(COO/CPO Gilles BianRosa, Source: LinkedIn)

Kraken announced Thursday (January 25) the appointment of Gilles BianRosa as Chief Operating and Product Officer (COO/CPO) and Marcus Hughes as Global Head of Regulatory Strategy, to drive the firm's continued growth amid evolving global regulatory environments.

In November, Fazzaco reported that the crypto exchange was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission​​, which accused it of illegally operating as a securities exchange without first registering with the regulator.

"As we get ready for the next phase of growth in crypto markets, we need to ensure we can quickly adapt to rapidly changing market trends while navigating an increasingly complex and divergent regulatory landscape," said Kraken CEO David Ripley.

Gilles is an entrepreneur and executive with 20 years of experience building and scaling product-led businesses across Silicon Valley and Europe. Before joining Kraken, he held the role of CPO across multiple firms, including leading European neobank N26, SoundCloud and Samsung Electronics. In his new role, Gilles will lead Kraken’s strategy, global business operations, product and design, driving the next generation of crypto products and services that will enable clients to seamlessly transact in crypto. He reports to CEO David Ripley.

"He (Gilles) has a proven track record of delivering innovative products across global organizations with velocity. Combined with his strategic insight, this will enable us to continue carrying out our mission of making crypto accessible to its next billion users through Kraken's leading products and services," commented Ripley.

Marcus brings a wealth of legal, commercial and regulatory expertise across traditional finance and crypto to Kraken. He joins from BitMEX where he served as Chief Risk Officer. Previously, he was at Coinbase for over three years, where he resigned as Managing Director, Europe and general Counsel, International.

"He (Marcus) will be instrumental in ensuring our offering meets the highest regulatory standards so we can offer our products and services across the globe," said Ripley.

Marcus will lead a team of legal regulatory experts across the markets Kraken operates in, and work closely with the company's leadership team to craft a strategy that takes into account the complex global nature of operating in crypto today.