Kraken poaches rival Gemini Europe’s boss Blair Halliday

Kraken has hired Gemini’s former head of Europe Blair Halliday as its new UK managing director.

Prior to Kraken, Blair was the managing director for the UK at rival crypto exchange Gemini. Before this, he worked in several senior compliance roles for a number of companies, such as Circle, CashFlow, ICE and Paysafe Group. Blair started off his career in banking at the NatWest Group.

Curtis Ting, who previously spearheaded Kraken’s UK & Europe operations, will move to a global senior managing director role to oversee regional operations. Halliday will now be responsible for overseeing Kraken’s operations in the UK. 

The move comes at a crunch time for crypto as a new regulatory regime comes into play and the ongoing 'crypto winter' marks a more volatile period for investors.

“Households are actively thinking about the cost of living and personal finances, and we’re proud to highlight a viable alternative to the current legacy financial system,” said Blair Halliday, Kraken’s UK managing director. 

“Similarly, as institutions further enter the marketplace they’re in search of crypto firms that complement the highest level of security with outstanding products and services," he said.

Kraken’s clearly defined mission, industry-leading security protocols, exciting product suite and excellent customer service, will position us to be at the forefront of driving the next wave of crypto adoption,” he added.  

Kraken, founded in 2011,  has a UK team of c.350 members currently based in the UK and over 3,300 employees around the world. It is backed by investors including Tribe Capital, SkyBridge, Hummingbird Ventures, Blockchain Capital, and Digital Currency Group, among others.