A former employee of US-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken filed a case against the company after Kraken allegedly failed to pay full compensation for the employee’s commissions. Jonathan Silverman was a manager in the New York Branch of Kraken. He further claimed that the company had presented misleading information regarding its operations in New York.
Million Dollar Claim
Silverman was employed as a sales and trading desk manager for Kraken in April of 2017. The allegations of Silverman revolved around the faulty operations that took place during his time with the exchange, as well Kraken’s failure to pay him for his commissions. He demanded a compensation equivalent to about one million dollars for the unpaid compensation.
Silverman claimed that Kraken had earned a profit of over nineteen million dollars in three months last 2017. The hiring terms that Silverman agreed with Kraken CEO Jesse Powell was a salary of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars and a ten percent commission on annual desk trading profit.
Kraken Denies Silverman’s Accusation
Kraken spokesperson Christina Vee denied Silverman’s accusation and said that he was “both lying and in breach of his confidentiality agreement.” New York regulators were in doubt about the operations of Kraken in the state since its CEO said that the company wasn’t active in New York for years. Therefore, New York’s regulations have little to no jurisdiction over the exchange.
Kraken announced that it would stop its operations in New York after the state required BitLicense requirements from crypto exchanges. Both Silverman and Kraken have settled an agreement of lump sum amounting to over nine hundred thousand dollars. However, Silverman remains dissatisfied with Kraken’s previous operations.