Ex-Kraken Trading Desk Manager Files Suit Against the Exchange

A former Kraken employee has filed a lawsuit against the for not receiving agreed compensation, Bloomberg reported.
Jonathan Silverman, who was managing Kraken’s institutional sales and trading desk in New York, has alleged that the exchange has failed to pay him the agreed compensation amounting more than $900,000, according to the April 7th report.

Hired in 2017, Silverman, as seen on the court filing, was offered $150,000 salary by Kraken’s CEO Jesse Powell along with an oral commitment of an additional 10 percent commission of the trading desk’s annual profit.
Silverman is claiming that the trading desk generated $19 million in profits in three months in 2017. However, the exchange did not pay the employee his share of the commission.
The crypto exchange, however, has denied all allegations made against it. A Kraken spokesperson told Bloomberg: “[Silverman] is both lying and in breach of his confidentiality agreement.”
Still Operating in New York?
Apart from the breach of contract, the ex-Kraken employee also alleged that the exchange is violating regulatory guidelines by continuing its operations in New York.
“[The exchange had been] misrepresenting to the public and government regulators that it was not operating in New York; when in reality, Kraken’s OTC practice, and OTC trading (including logging into the Kraken exchange and negotiating wire transfers) occurred almost exclusively in New York,” the court filing stated.
Kraken, in 2015, amid the introduction of the . Powell later slammed the mandatory license calling it a “foul” and “cruel” creature.
“Just because some people in the cryptocurrency space don’t believe the rules apply to them doesn’t mean that’s the way things actually work,” David Silver, an attorney of the ex-Kraken employee, told the publication.
Silverman suit is not the first against Kraken as another similar lawsuit was filed agist the crypto exchange earlier this year by another employee for not paying him an agreed $907,631 in settlement money.

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