Kraken’s CEO, Jesse Powell, has stated the cryptocurrency exchange’s volume during the second quarter of 2017 comprised 10x more trade than during the company’s preceding all time high. Despite this incredible spike in volume, Powell speculated that the cryptocurrency markets will likely see growth of 10x to 100x in coming years.
Also Read: Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Cryptocurrnecy Exchange Kraken
The Cryptocurrency Exchange Has Hired 150 New Employees in the Last Two Months
During a recent interview on Trace Mayer’s Bitcoin Knowledge Podcast, Kraken CEO, Jesse Powell, detailed the enormous growth witnessed by the cryptocurrency exchange during 2017. When compared with the company’s preceding all-time highs, Powell describes last quarter’s growth as having been “immense”, with total trading volume comprising “maybe 10x above the largest previous quarter”.
To cope with the surging demand, Kraken has expanded its personnel – with the cryptocurrency exchange having hired 150 people in the past two months. Despite the growth, Powell is concerned that should the cryptocurrency markets downtrend then layoffs may be necessary – as occurred following the popping of the 2013 bubble, during which the exchange downsized from 35 to 12 employees.
Despite the Record Breaking Trading Volume, 2017 Has Been a Challenging Year for Kraken
Powell says that the surging volume has also affected the cryptocurrency exchange’s banking relationships, creating challenges for Kraken’s customers. “[Our banking and payment partners] might be fine with what the usual volume is, but an overnight 10x in wire transfers or KYC requests – because they will often want to do enhanced diligence – and if they have to do 10x what their enhanced diligence is, they might need to hire more people themselves,” stated Powell.
Despite the record breaking trading volume, 2017 has been a challenging year for Kraken. The exchange experienced numerous outages during peak trading periods in recent months, several of which were the consequence of a string of DDoS attacks that targeted cryptocurrency exchanges. Earlier this month, www.bitcoin.com reported that five Kraken customers have launched a class-action lawsuit seeking compensation for liquidations that occurred as the results of an ethereum flash crash on May 7th, claiming that the exchange should have halted trading operations due to DDoS attacks. Kraken has stated that “the DDoS did neither cause nor exacerbate liquidations’, and rejected accusations that it acted unlawfully during ETH’s 70% dip.
Do you think that the recent growth in the cryptocurrency markets is sustainable? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Kraken
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