Jesse Powell, chief executive of the Kraken digital currency exchange, is stepping down. David Ripley, the company's current chief operating officer, will take on the CEO role in the coming months.

He has been with the company since its inception in 2011, and has been instrumental in its growth. Kraken is one of the largest and most well-known cryptocurrency exchanges, and is headquartered in San Francisco.

Jesse Powell is a self-taught computer programmer and started his first software company while still in high school. He later worked as a software engineer at Microsoft and then as a product manager at AOL before moving into the world of finance.

Powell is a well-known figure in the cryptocurrency industry and is a frequent speaker at industry events. He is also a regular guest on podcasts and radio shows.

In an exclusive interview with The Block, Powell discussed his time at Kraken, the challenges the exchange faced, and his new project: a crypto-focused venture fund called Crypto Voices.

Powell said that he was "proud" of what Kraken had accomplished during his tenure as CEO.

When I look back at my time at Kraken, I'm proud of the fact that we were able to build one of the first professional exchanges, one of the first exchanges to get real banking partnerships, and one of the first exchanges to get real traction and volume," Powell said.

I think we played a big role in legitimizing the industry and showing that this is a real asset class and a real industry.

Powell also discussed the challenges that Kraken faced during his time as CEO.

I think the biggest challenge for us was always managing growth, Powell said. "We were growing so fast that it was hard to keep up with the demand.

We had to make a lot of decisions quickly and sometimes we made the wrong decisions, Powell added. "But I think overall we did a pretty good job."

After two years of investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice hit Kraken with a fine in July for violating sanction laws by allowing individuals and Iran, Cuba and Syria to trade assets on its platform.

This is a serious issue, and one that the Department of Justice takes very seriously. In fact, this is the first time that a digital currency exchange has been fined for violating sanctions laws.

While the fine is only a fraction of Kraken's overall revenue, it is still a significant amount of money. This shows that the Department of Justice is willing to go after digital currency exchanges that violate sanctions laws.

Powell said that the decision to step down as CEO was "difficult" but that he felt it was the right time to focus on what's important, he said in the interview.

"It was a difficult decision, but I feel like it's the right time for me to move on to other things," Powell said. "I'm excited to see what the next chapter holds for Kraken."

Powell said that he is still "very bullish" on the cryptocurrency industry and that he believes the best is yet to come.

"I'm still very bullish on this industry," Powell said. "I think we're still in the early days and there's a lot of room for growth."

"I'm excited to see what the next few years hold for the industry," Powell added. "I think the best is yet to come."