Kraken CEO Defends His Exchange’s Decision to List Terra (LUNA 2.0)

Jesse Powell, the CEO of Kraken crypto exchange has responded to the criticism related to his exchange decision to list the new Terra (LUNA 2.0) digital asset.

It can be recalled that Kraken announced the listing of the digital asset on Saturday 28th May 2022, with the crypto being airdropped to holders of Terra Classic (LUNC), following the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in early May, which resulted in investors losing billions of dollars.

In order to solve the major problem, the creation of a new chain was proposed and eventually approved via a governance vote conducted at the Terra Station.

Kraken Supported LUNA 2.0 Due to Client Demand

According to Powell in a tweet on the 30th of May, where he responded to the question related to why the Kraken decided to list the controversial digital currency, the token was listed by the exchange due to “client demand”.

Jesse Powell tweeted, “Client demand. There’s a weird dynamic with exchanges. Switching cost is low and people tend to want to do everything all in one place for capital efficiency/synergies/convenience. Not supporting 1 coin people demand could cost you the entire account. Listing isn’t an endorsement.”

In another tweet, Powell says the exchange is trying to be as “asset agnostic” as possible:

“We try to be as asset-agnostic as possible. We’re here to run a marketplace, facilitate price discovery, not pick winners and losers. Fiat and most stocks are garbage but where’s the outrage? Revenue from these other coins pays for all the security, pro-BTC lobbying and marketing.

The CEO also says he doesn’t necessarily see the original LUNA’s meltdown as being related to Kraken’s decision to list the new token.

“Is there a technical takedown of LUNA2? Does LUNA2 have the same flaws? I’m not an expert on the coin but presumably, LUNA2 has learned something from LUNA. Is supporting LUNA2 and the airdrop improving the situation for LUNA holders?”

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Solomon Odunayo

Solomon is a trader, crypto enthusiast, and analyst with over four years of experience in the industry. He strongly believes that crypto assets and the blockchain will continue to gain prominence. At TimesTabloid.com, he focuses on news, articles with deep analysis of blockchain projects, and technical analysis of crypto trading pairs.