Incoming Kraken CEO says FTX and SBF are ‘full frauds, thieves’

“I feel, what it boils all the way down to from all the knowledge now we have [and] this chapter report that has now been launched is that FTX and SBF are full frauds—not simply frauds, however thieves,” Ripley, who additionally served as COO at Kraken for over six years, tells Fortune.

Final week, it appeared cryptocurrency change Binance and its CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao had entertained the concept of serving to FTX. However after due diligence, Binance and CZ opted out, citing points at FTX that had been “past our management or capacity to assist.”

Quickly after studies circulated that FTX approached Kraken as a possible accomplice however Ripley notes {that a} rescue was by no means within the playing cards.

“We’re always getting extra inbound acquisition inquiries than I personally can maintain monitor of, however there was by no means any official dialogue on buying FTX at any level,” he stated. “It wouldn’t make sense for Kraken on quite a lot of fronts.”

Ripley additionally maintains that Kraken doesn’t have any publicity to FTX, Digital Foreign money Group (DCG), or any entities tied to SBF.

Kraken is at the moment cooperating with legislation enforcement, Ripley stated, after somebody behind a collection of “unauthorized transactions” moved cash from FTX to Kraken after FTX filed for chapter. Kraken knows has said it knows the person’s identity however Ripley declined to share disclose.

Wanting forward, Ripley sees promise in centralized exchanges issuing “proof of reserves,” which, in principle, would supply customers transparency about belongings and liabilities on exchanges used. That is one thing Kraken has accomplished for years, Ripley stated.

Ripley additionally views self custody, or private possession of cryptocurrency, to be necessary. “Self custody is on the rise,” he stated.

However, to Ripley, “the centralized exchanges are at all times going to have a task …. to construct [a] bridge from the legacy conventional monetary system, from fiat to crypto.”