Jesse Powell of Kraken was criticized for hosting the second generation LUNA; separately, he spoke out against TradeFi’s claims to exchange cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrency winter causes a storm of emotions. Kraken CEO Jesse Powell has come under fire for defending the addition of the new LUNA, also known as LUNA 2.0, to the roster, which aims to replace the original LUNA, now known as Luna Classic (LUNC), and TerraUSD, now known as TerraUSD Classic ( USTC) – to bring. – rise from the dead.
Respectable names in the crypto industry such as Nick Carter of Castle Ventures spoke out against the decision, while Powell, in a separate tweet thread, lashed out at short seller Jim Chanos, who built a large short position against Coinbase, Kraken’s biggest competitor.
Carter simply wrote “why” on Kraken’s official Twitter account announcing the listing of the new LUNA.
Kraken, the world’s fourth largest cryptocurrency exchange, lists over 160 cryptocurrencies. The list grows every month, from Bitcoin (BTC) to Filecoin (FIL) to the second version of LUNA, which is currently ranked 164th in its price index.
Terra’s first crash wiped out about $50 billion, resulting in suicide hotlines tied to the Terra subreddit, and legal documents show that Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon killed two affiliates days before the crash and liquidated the entire company.
Related: “Terra 2.0 Recovery Plan” Exchange Through Airdrops, Listing, Buyback and Burn
Then the project was heavily ramified and restarted with little or no compensation to impoverished investors. The airdrop, for example, did not go as planned by the developers because the tokens were distributed unevenly. Since then, the new LUNA has fallen from a high of almost $20 to less than $8 despite a 90% price increase driven by the Binance airdrop.
LUNA price chart showing the May 30th Binance pump. Source: CoinMarketCap
Powell states that LUNA’s listing was motivated by “consumer demand”. Rohan Gray, assistant professor of law at Willamette University, urged Powell to take action, arguing that eBay doesn’t allow scammers to stay on the e-commerce platform, so why should crypto exchanges give Terra a seat at the table? The comment was a joke on Powell’s statement about octopuses:
“We are a marketplace like eBay. BTC<>BTC traders don’t pay bills.”
Powell has previously shown an important side of his operations by recently shutting down Kraken’s global headquarters because “San Francisco is not safe.” However, when it comes to money and octopuses, “we try to be as asset neutral as possible,” he tweeted.
“Fiat and most stocks are bullshit, but where is the outrage? The income from these other coins pays for all security, BTC lobbying and marketing.”
In a separate Twitter thread, Kraken defended the future of cryptocurrency exchanges. In the Crypto Critics Corner podcast, Chanos, an American investment manager, detailed a short film he created on Coinbase, America’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. According to Powell, in the next 10 years there will be a “paradigm shift” and cryptocurrency exchanges will be the winners.
Aside from power struggles and Twitter spats, for those looking for a signal in a war of words, Powell shared his investment preferences regarding whether to choose bitcoin, invest in exchanges, or both:
Kraken did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
