Kraken Dismisses CFO Ahead of Crypto Firm’s Public Listing

The dismissal of Stephanie Lemmerman, Coindesk reported Tuesday (Feb. 10) comes as Kraken is getting ready for its initial public offering (IPO) on the U.S. market.

The report, citing sources familiar with the matter, said Lemmerman had shifted into a strategic advisory role at Kraken. She joined the company in November 2024 and served as CFO for 16 months, the report added.

One source told Coindesk that Robert Moore, who had been Kraken’s vice president of business expansion, had essentially taken over the CFO’s job. The leadership page on Kraken’s parent company website shows Moore as deputy CFO, while Lemmerman does not appear.

Another source said the changes are happening as Kraken’s finance arm is transforming into more of a product, rather than a back-office function.

Reached by PYMNTS, Kraken declined to comment.

Kraken filed confidentiality for its IPO in November, one after raising $800 million in a series of funding rounds that valued the company at $20 billion.

The company is one of several crypto firms to either go public or prepare to list in the last year. Writing about the trend last month, PYMNTS noted that the IPOs are happening as the “center of gravity” in digital assets has moved toward infrastructure and away from speculation.

“Recent listings of custody providers, stablecoin issuers and trading infrastructure firms have drawn institutional interest precisely because they resemble the picks-and-shovels providers of earlier technology revolutions,” that report said.

“Cryptocurrency companies Circle and Figure listed last year and enjoyed a big boost in their initial trading sessions, as did cryptocurrency exchange Bullish, which went public in August; and crypto exchange Gemini, which listed in September.”

PYMNTS added that the interest in public listings from cryptocurrency infrastructure providers is important because the crypto sector’s previous attempts at public listings were often poorly timed or structurally out of sync with the expectations of the public markets.

“Earlier cycles rewarded rapid user growth, token velocity and trading volumes, which can be metrics that collapse quickly when volatility dries up,” the report continued.

“The new crop of issuers is telling a different story, emphasizing custody, compliance, payments infrastructure and security.”