Jesse Powell closed Kraken’s San Francisco headquarters in April. He spoke more about why and lampooned San Francisco’s progressive D.A. on the new gm podcast.
Jesse Powell, the veteran CEO of Bitcoin exchange Kraken, doesn’t love government entities.
New York’s controversial BitLicense regulatory framework was announced in 2015. Powell immediately and permanently removed Kraken from the state. Later referred to New York by referring as “that abusive, controlling ex” that he broke up with 3 years back but keeps stalking him.
Powell closed Kraken’s San Francisco global headquarters in April. He cited rampant crime, mental illness and drug abuse as threats to Kraken employees. He explained why on the Decrypt gm podcast.
Powell stated that he used to live 12 minutes from the SOMA office [South of Market] and it was like playing hopscotch with human feces. He also used needles and men with machetes.
Powell says it wasn’t always this way. “San Francisco has fallen quite far. He said that when he first moved there in 2013, it was quite different than today. It was safer and cleaner than I remember, and it has only gotten worse since.
Chesa Boudin, the city district attorney, is a target of Powell’s fury. Boudin was elected to office by a nationwide campaign for reform in police, culminating in historic protests across the country following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Boudin’s reform-minded platform prioritizes police accountability, decarceration and eliminating cash bail. It also addresses institutional factors that disproportionately lead some communities to criminality.
Powell believes that Boudin’s approach is directly responsible for the deterioration in San Francisco and Kraken’s departure from the city. Powell stated that Boudin’s social agenda was that crimes are committed because one has been oppressed. “Unfortunately, as you all know, prison is also a very effective deterrent against crime.”
So many people support Powell’s view that Boudin will face a recall election in June. Powell has publicly supported the recall effort. John Legend and other prominent public figures have backed Boudin, citing their work as an important part of a national progressive push to criminal justice reform.
Coinbase, another Kraken competitor, also moved its San Francisco headquarters to February. However, it did so for different reasons. They cited the pandemic as well as the desire to be a truly decentralized company without a headquarters.
Is Kraken likely to return home to the City By the Bay in the near future? It could be a while, if Boudin is still in office. Powell, never one to mince words, declared in a recent Statement that the city would not be safe unless there is a D.A. Powell, who values the rights of law-abiding citizens more than the street criminals that he so shamelessly protects.
