Kraken reportedly cuts 150 staff as AI gains and IPO window slips

Kraken has reportedly cut about 150 staff after internal AI tools improved efficiency, and the crypto exchange’s expected IPO window may have slipped to late 2026 or early 2027 as weaker digital-asset prices cool investor demand, Bloomberg reported. Two themes shaping tech capital markets this year run through the move: automation-led cost control and a stronger bid for AI floats than for digital-asset listings.

Reuters reported in March, citing CoinDesk, that Kraken had frozen its IPO plans. The Bloomberg report suggests the reopening window has become harder to read, not easier. Kraken has not publicly confirmed the later timing in the material reviewed for this story, so the late-2026 or early-2027 window remains attributed to Bloomberg’s account. The company sits in a familiar pre-IPO position: mature enough to be judged on execution, still exposed to shifts in market fashion.

The report characterises the cuts as an efficiency move tied to AI tooling rather than a defensive retrenchment after a price slide. If that reading holds, Kraken joins a broader class of finance and crypto groups using automation to justify leaner teams before a full market rebound arrives. Managements are treating AI as an operating lever now — a lever they do not need an IPO to fund.

The staffing and IPO decisions point the same way. A company that can do more with fewer people has extra reason to wait for better listing conditions rather than rushing into a softer market.

On markets, the backdrop remains choppy. Bitcoin was down 2.58 per cent at $US78,983.21 on Friday, according to Yahoo Finance, while Coinbase Global shares were down 8.15 per cent at $US195.43. Those moves do not dictate Kraken’s timetable. They do show how quickly sentiment in listed crypto proxies can turn when digital-asset prices soften.

Crypto IPO candidates are often judged against listed proxies before they set terms. A weaker tape does not close the window by itself, but it makes valuation talks harder and raises the cost of coming to market when buyers want more proof on revenue, margins and compliance.

Investors and founders are describing a market that has rotated toward AI. In a Sherwood News report, Tada founder Kay Kyeongsik Woo said “the market is cooled down and investors’ appetite has been sold to AI”. The wording is blunt. It captures a familiar trade in 2026: AI stories still command attention, while crypto issuers face a narrower and more selective audience.

Sherwood also quoted Kairos Research cofounder Ian Unsworth saying “It’s a fair decision on behalf of all the crypto firms”. His point was that delaying a float can be rational when public investors are rewarding other themes more richly. For Kraken, the reported headcount move and the slower IPO window are part of the same story.

Crypto companies spent the past cycle arguing that scale and regulatory maturity would reopen the path to public markets. The Kraken reporting suggests even larger platforms may need to arrive there with lower cost bases, clearer AI productivity stories and more patience about timing.

A crypto listing window can stay open in theory and still be unattractive in practice, especially when AI remains the market’s preferred growth narrative. Until digital-asset prices stabilise and demand for crypto equities strengthens, reported cost cuts like Kraken’s may look less like outliers and more like the cost of staying patient.