Jesse Powell (@jespow) — Twitter Score 788 out of 1000

Jesse Powell is Jesse Powell, who co-founded Kraken in 2011 alongside Thanh Luu and Michael Gronager; the exchange launched publicly in September 2013. He works at Kraken as Chairman of the board of directors, a role he assumed after stepping down as CEO on September 21, 2022, with Dave Ripley succeeding him. He also founded Verge Center for the Arts. Jesse Powell's Twitter Score is 788 out of 1000 (an Excellent rating) as of July 2026, ranking #73 (top 0.1%) out of 389,587 scored accounts.

Jesse Powell is Kraken's largest shareholder. Before co-founding the exchange, he consulted for Mt. Gox in 2011 to help the platform recover from a hacking attack. He stated he stepped down as Kraken CEO partly to protect the exchange's global licensing efforts after learning he was subject to a criminal investigation. In October 2024, Arjun Sethi was named Kraken co-CEO alongside Dave Ripley. Kraken raised $800 million across two tranches in 2024, including a $200 million strategic investment from Citadel Securities at a $20 billion valuation; investors in the exchange include Tribe Capital, SkyBridge, Hummingbird Ventures, Blockchain Capital, and Digital Currency Group. The exchange is planning an IPO for early 2026, and in February 2021 announced its backing of Kraken Ventures, an independent VC fund targeting early-stage crypto and fintech companies.

Jesse Powell has been at the center of legal proceedings tied to Verge Center for the Arts. In March 2023, the FBI searched his Los Angeles home and seized electronic devices as part of a DOJ investigation into allegations by the nonprofit that he hacked and cyber-stalked it. His attorney stated the investigation was in no way related to his conduct in the cryptocurrency arena, and he maintained he did nothing wrong. In July 2025, the Justice Department dropped the investigation and returned dozens of seized laptops and cellphones, with his attorney receiving a declination letter closing the probe. He also filed a civil defamation lawsuit against Verge Center for the Arts board members alleging they conspired to remove him from the board, with litigation remaining ongoing as of July 2025.

Jesse Powell has navigated several regulatory actions involving Kraken. In February 2023, the SEC charged the exchange with failing to register its staking-as-a-service program; Kraken agreed to pay $30 million and cease offering the program in the U.S. without admitting or denying the allegations. In November 2022, OFAC settled with Kraken for $362,158.70 over apparent sanctions violations related to services exported to users in Iran. In March 2025, the SEC agreed to drop its lawsuit alleging Kraken operated as an unregistered securities exchange. He also donated $1 million to Donald Trump's 2024 presidential election campaign.

Jesse Powell has been active on X since 2009, with 233,238 followers as of July 2026 and 5,836 posts. He is mentioned by 680 accounts, with 1,529 total mentions.

Who follows Jesse Powell on X?

Jesse Powell draws a broad following among crypto and finance professionals on X. The accounts that follow Jesse Powell include 2,551 founders, 585 angel investors, 1,543 influencers and 72 VCs, among them Balaji, Chris Dixon, Marc Andreessen, Erik Voorhees, Laura Shin and jesse.base.eth.