FBI Drops Criminal Probe Into Kraken Founder Jesse Powell

Federal authorities have dropped a criminal investigation into Jesse Powell, co-founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken.

The FBI investigation, which began in 2023, was looking into the non-profit Verge Center for the Arts' allegations that Powell hacked its computer accounts and obstructed access to emails. His home was also searched when the investigation began and computers, laptops and cellphones were seized at the time, the New York Times reported last year.

In April this year, federal prosecutors informed Powell's attorney Brandon Fox that the government had concluded its investigation into the Verge allegations and it was not bringing criminal charges against Powell, documents filed to the Superior Court of the State of California on Monday showed. Prosecutors also said at the time they would return the devices they had seized from Powell's home, Fox said.

On June 9, his lawyer later received a letter from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California confirming that the federal government had closed this investigation on April 8 this year. Fox initially asked for this letter to be sent to Powell.

“The FBI's raid on my house was devastating both personally and professionally. It is still shocking that the raid was premised on Verge Center for the Art’s baseless accusations against me," Powell said in a statement.

"I will continue to pursue the appropriate legal remedies against those who created this disaster by making false statements to law enforcement,” he added.

The closure of the case comes as Kraken weighs the possibility of an initial public offering by the first quarter of 2026. Powell stepped down as the exchange's CEO in 2023 according to his LinkedIn, but remains on its board of directors.

Kraken remains one of the largest U.S.-based crypto exchanges and has been the target of increased regulatory scrutiny in recent years. In 2023, it settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission and shut its U.S. staking services.

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