Kraken

• Highly intelligent, diverse, passionate coworkers

• CEO is likable and, in the past, has been very kind to employees

• No bonuses or raises during the largest bull-run of Bitcoin in history, as the company sees record-breaking profits, volume, and user acquisition • Perpetual death march and crunch for every project • Unsustainable deadlines and work conditions • Low compensation and stock • Stock options vest over 6 years, not industry-standard 4 years • No 401k matching • Poor work-life balance • No maternity or paternity leave and no respect for family responsibilities • Leadership has become out of touch with employees and has continued to show disregard for sentiment • “Unlimited vacation” is looked down on • Somehow, no HR despite having over 1300 employees • Sues employees who criticize the company online I’m reluctant to write this post because Kraken has previously sued former employees for posting negative Glassdoor reviews.

Check the red warning banner on this page, that is why there aren’t more negative reviews here. I guarantee leadership will attempt to figure out who posted this, which is absolutely reprehensible behavior. The EFF has stepped in to protect former whistleblowers which is something unheard of for a company of this type, at this scale. That alone should indicate what kind of company this is. My team and I have been subjected to overtime countless times and we’ve poured our hearts and souls into this company and platform. We have worked tirelessly to ensure uptime and expand platform usability for a product I once truly believed in.

Unfortunately, I believe the platform success and price of Bitcoin have gone to the heads of leadership and they have forgotten who made them successful. At the time of this writing, Bitcoin has consistently hit all-time-highs, Kraken has seen their highest user acquisitions ever, and we are seeing record-breaking trading volume. Despite all of this, this year, we have received no end-of-year bonuses, no raises, and really no employee recognition. This, on top of incredibly low compensation, especially when compared to industry standards, has shown me just how little this company cares for their employees.

In previous years, we used to get raises, bonuses, and occasional company-paid vacations, but it is disgraceful for Kraken to stop this in a time of such prosperity for the company. Employee retention is getting worse, motivation is low, burnout is high, and leadership behavior as of late is only making things worse. Former colleagues of mine who have left for better, more forward-thinking crypto exchange markets, receive significantly higher base compensation, raises, bonuses, better work-life balance, and generally have a better outlook of their platform.