Kraken, a San Francisco-based digital currency exchange, has added a proven crypto industry leader to its executive team, underscoring the firm's continued expansion this year.

In an official blog post, Kraken announced Tuesday that Miha Grčar has joined the firm as head of business concern evolution.

The mail service reads:

"For the better part of the last decade, Miha has helped Bitstamp gain recognition as a licensed financial institution in Europe, experience that volition bear witness integral as he helps Kraken build disquisitional cyberbanking relationships and forge new partnerships with essential stakeholders."

Before joining Kraken, Grčar spent well-nigh 8 years at Bitstamp, where he served in various executive roles, including COO and caput of business development.

Kraken is the world's fifth-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, according to Messari's spot book information. Bitstamp is not far behind in 6th position. There'south a significant drib off after that, though Uniswap appears to be making its way up the ranks as a bona fide decentralized substitution.

Kraken describes Grčar as a "crypto exchange pioneer" for aiding Bitstamp's meteoric ascension over the years. Grčar'southward first exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) was in tardily 2010, roughly two years after the Satoshi Nakamoto whitepaper was released. He would go on to join Bitsatmp roughly two-and-a-half years later.

Grčar refers to Kraken equally the "OG of the oldest crypto exchanges," and the "but commutation that had the guts, encephalon and spine to stand up for its clients" following the Mt. Gox implosion back in 2014.

Cryptocurrency exchanges are poised for significant growth in the coming years as digital avails go on to disrupt the fiat budgetary system. Using Messari'due south "Real ten" exchange volume information, Forbes estimates that U.S. trading activity lone experienced a compounded annual growth rate of xv.7% per year between 2015 and 2019.