Kraken’s 10 Year Plan With Arjun Sethi

Sep 1, 2025

Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Kraken and an expert in tech and IPOs, shares his vision for Kraken's transformative decade-long growth plan. He discusses innovative compensation strategies designed to motivate performance and align with long-term goals. The conversation dives into the evolving landscape of venture capital and crypto, emphasizing data-driven decision-making and customer needs. Arjun also tackles the challenges of navigating competition and market adaptability, all while aiming to establish Kraken as a leading global crypto brand.

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INSIGHT

Crypto As A Tool To Reclaim Control

Arjun believes crypto returns control to individuals over assets, data, and innovation permission.
That restitution of control underpins his long-term commitment to Kraken's mission.

ADVICE

Use Transparency To Accelerate Teams

Clearly articulate what matters and align incentives transparently to increase product velocity.
Share compensation structure and long-term goals to build trust with teams and shareholders.

INSIGHT

Serve The 'Meaty Middle'

Kraken focuses on the 'meaty middle' of professional day traders as its core customer segment.
Designing cohesive products around that cohort leverages liquidity and drives deeper engagement.

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Gm! In this episode, Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Kraken, joins Yano to dive into how his background in tech, growth and IPOs makes him the perfect candidate to join Kraken and take the company to the next level. Arjun dives into how his compensation plan and overall approach to Kraken paves the way for a decade long growth trajectory that will take Kraken global and one of the most recognized brands in crypto for retail, traders and beyond. -- Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts -- Follow Arjun: https://x.com/arjunsethi Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod -- Join the Empire Telegram: https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh -- Katana is a DeFi-first chain built for deep liquidity and high yield. No empty emissions, just real yield and sequencer fees routed back to DeFi users. Pre-deposit now: Earn high APRs with Turtle Club [https://app.turtle.club/campaigns/katana] or spin the wheel with Katana Krates [https://app.katana.network/krates] -- Is your treasury losing value to inflation? Learn how to make digital assets like ETH and SOL productive with uncorrelated, protocol-driven staking rewards. A new report from Liquid Collective and EigenCloud outlines a practical guide for CFOs to integrate institutional-grade staking and restaking. Read The Productive Treasury Report: https://liquidcollective.io/corporate-treasury-staking/ -- GEODNET is the world’s largest RTK network, delivering real-time, centimeter-level precision for drones, robots, farmers, and first responders. Recognized by the U.S. Congress, this blockchain-powered network supports mission-critical applications across a wide range of industries. Discover how GEODNET is changing the world: [https://geodnet.com] -- (00:00) Intro

(01:10) Arjun’s Background

(14:08) Culture + Product Velocity

(16:45) Arjun’s Incentives

(18:03) Ads (Katana)

(18:50) 1st month at kraken

(21:56) Prioritizing What To Build

(26:00) Future Onchain Trading

(31:20) Kraken Stablecoin

(33:38) Crypto Market Structure

(35:16) Competitor Analysis

(40:17) Hyperliquid

(42:25) X Stocks

(44:58) Ninja Trader Acquisition

(49:33) IPO?

(52:39) Long term Leadership

(53:53) Ads (Eigenlayer, Geodnet)

(55:32) Prediction Markets + Perps

(59:16) Tokenization / Onchain IPOs

(01:04:18) What's Obvious to Arjun

(01:09:46) 4 Year Cycle

-- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.