Arjun Sethi net worth: here’s how Kraken co-CEO made it

Career foundations

Every big fish’s rise story has a special detail to it. Arjun Sethi is no exception, and in his case, his special detail is his Californian native vibes.

Born in Santa Clara, he got exposed to the tech industry at a very young age. All thanks to his parents who were involved with the startup industry in Silicon Valley, which prompted Sethi to learn to code early.

From then onward, Arjun Sethi Kraken professional path has been shaped by a deep engagement with technology, entrepreneurship, and investing long before he stepped into a crypto CEO role. As a student studying economics at Boston University and earning a B.A. in history from the University of Maryland, he’d also freelance as a website builder, acquiring practical skills in the field.

In the late 1990s, Sethi co-founded the manufacturing company Advanced Tuning Products. He then proceeded to co-found several tech startups, like social gaming company ROFLplay later acquired by Lolapps, and was a partner at well-known venture capital firms like Social Capital and Tribe Capital.

“As time went on and I began investing larger amounts of capital, I started losing money and it led me to recognize the stark contrast between the general approach of gut-driven investing to our well-oiled approach of data-informed product development,” he reflected on his then choices in one of the interviews.

At Tribe Capital, Sethi worked with early-stage tech companies in fintech, software, and emerging tech, helping founders refine product strategies and scale their ventures. The firm also made early investments in crypto-adjacent infrastructure, reflecting Sethi’s interest in decentralized markets and digital assets. 

Path into crypto

Sethi’s entrance into the cryptocurrency industry did not happen overnight. Nor did it go seamlessly. 

In 2009, Sethi received Bitcoin from a developer. Instead of taking an interest in it, he did something unusual…he threw it away. 

“One of my developers from my first company gave me a desktop with Bitcoin that he had mined. This was in 2009, and then I threw it away. I think it was worth maybe $300-$400 million today,” Sethi said in an interview with Crypto Editor Jeff John Roberts at Fortune‘s BrainstormTech conference.

This misstep, which could have significantly increased Arjun Sethi net worth, didn’t dissuade him from eventually making a foray into the crypto industry. His exposure through investing and strategic advising shaped his interest in crypto’s long-term structural potential. This was specifically the case when he was part of Tribe Capital, where Sethi backed companies connected to fintech and digital finance, including early investments in crypto platforms.

Enter Kraken, one of the Tribe Capital’s investment targets. 

Sethi’s investments in the exchange resulted in his appointment to the board in 2021, where he helped guide strategy and make beneficial decisions for the company. 

Three years later, in October 2024, Sethi began serving as co-CEO of Kraken sharing the role with David Ripley, with a mandate to guide the exchange through a period of global regulatory shifts and market evolution. 

Leadership at Kraken

When he stepped into the role of co-CEO, Kraken was already one of the most established exchanges in the industry. Sethi’s mandate was not to reinvent the company overnight, but to strengthen its foundation as crypto matured into a more regulated and competitive sector.

Sethi is primarily focused on trust, resilience, and long-term strategy. One of the earliest remarks that captured his approach came when addressing Kraken’s position on IPO plans. Reflecting on the exchange’s priorities, he said: “We have enough capital on our balance sheet today as a private company, and we don’t want to race to the door as quickly as possible.”

Like many other high profile entrepreneurs, he is an opponent of overly stringent crypto regulations, in the United Kingdom included.

In the UK today, if you go to any crypto website, including Kraken’s, you see the equivalent to a cigarette box [warning] — ‘use this and you’re going to die’,

Kraken CEO said.

It is thus no surprise that Kraken Arjun Sethi appreciates officials who are looking to create a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment. This includes Senator Cynthia Lummis with whom he recently met. 

“Senator @SenLummis has played a central role in shaping how digital asset policy developed in the United States,” he tweeted, adding that “well before crypto became a mainstream policy topic, Wyoming took a serious, technically informed approach.  

He is also no stranger in the White House, having attended the White House Crypto Summit in March 2025, just several months after Donald Trump’s inauguration. 

Product & growth strategy

Under Kraken CEO Sethi’s direction, the exchange has pursued a multifaceted product and growth strategy that extends beyond pure exchange trading into broader financial services.

One concrete example of that strategy is Kraken’s move into global peer-to-peer payments with its Krak app. In explaining the rationale for this expansion, Sethi stated: 

We’re able to move money across borders right off the bat, because that’s what we do from a trading perspective in our venues, and we’ve actually already spent over 10 years building out that system for money transmitter licenses… in all the jurisdictions.

Kraken has also expanded into traditional finance, with commission-free trading of U.S. stocks and ETFs. Sethi framed this integration as part of a broader vision for seamless global markets: “Expanding into equities is a natural step for us, and paves the way for the tokenization of assets. The future of trading is borderless, always on and built on crypto rails.” 

These initiatives reflect a twofold strategy: enhancing Kraken’s existing core offerings while building complementary services that attract both retail and institutional users.

Future vision for Kraken

CEO of Kraken Arjun Sethi’s vision for the exchange is foremost rooted in global accessibility, product breadth, and sustainable growth. 

One of my goals at Kraken over the next 10 years is how do we just get more free products out there for the underbanked,

he stated in one of the interviews.

Sethi is convinced that Kraken should evolve in ways that serve users and build confidence in digital assets. Meanwhile, his criticism of restrictive regulation in places like the UK suggests that he views regulatory engagement as a key part of future expansion. 

He has also encouraged the development of products and services that merge traditional and digital finance. The launch of equity trading and borderless payment capabilities, combined with tokenization efforts, indicates a belief that the future of Kraken lies at the intersection of crypto rails and real-world use cases.

All in all, Sethi isn’t about hype. His leadership is about doing the right things at the right time, an approach that usually leads to real growth long-term.