Crypto Exchange Kraken Denies Security Breach and Office Closure in Halifax, Canada
Kraken exchange has been forced to comment on a persisting rumor that a Halifax, Canada office of the crypto exchange was shut down following a security breach resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs.
A post on Reddit made by ‘throwaway34032324’ yesterday states:
“Kraken Currency exchange in Halifax unit 102 at 60 Highfield park drive has just laid off hundreds of people In response to a security breech and theres currently a giant commotion happening up there and private security all over the place escorting people off the premises after making them sign voluntary quit forms was anyone here one of those people?”
The statement was made through a brand new ‘throwaway’ or anonymous and disposable Reddit account with no other post history. A comment made by an account called “MysteriousPlankton” seemed to confirm the rumor.
“10 AM, mandatory meeting. Security everywhere, required to hand in door fobs. Sitting in lunchroom, get told that due to volumes being down (both trading and support ticket), and in light of the opening of a new office in Asia, we need to reduce costs, and layoff of recently hired (<3 months, approx 57 people) was not enough, ” it read.
The user went on to state that staff were told if they resigned by Friday at noon they would be given a severance package of 8 weeks pay, but that refusal to accept would not guarantee continued employment, adding: “Sounds an awful lot like we just got laid off, right? I can’t (read: don’t want to) talk more about it, but that’s what has been going down.”
The ‘MysteriousPlankton’ account was made hours before the post was published on Reddit and also has no post history.
Kraken Denies Rumors
Kraken Support denied the entire contents of the post on a Twitter post made earlier today, stating that Kraken remains secure and is not shutting down any facilities.
The support account posted a few hours later to confirm this:
Kraken exchange recently told Business Insider that it expected to increase the staff headcount to 800 members, although the subsequent announcement that services to Japanese users would be cut off to conserve costs have only fuelled the recent rumors that Kraken is indeed in dire straits and that something major is happening behind closed doors.
The recent post on Reddit regarding the Halifax office contains no evidence and could easily have been made by one person creating two free accounts on the same day hours apart. Despite this, the rumor has gained serious traction through the crypto news space as misinformation and concern spreads through the community.
At the moment there is nothing to suggest that the office is closing down, and CCN.com will be following the story closely to keep readers updated.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
