Kraken CEO defends listing LUNA 2.0: ‘Bitcoin traders don’t pay the bills’

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Emotions are running high in the crypto winter. Kraken CEO Jesse Powell has come under fire for his defense of listing the new LUNA, also known as LUNA 2.0, which replaces the original LUNA – now known as Luna Classic (LUNC) – and TerraUSD – now known as TerraUSD Classic (USTC), attempts to bring – back from the dead.

Respected names in the cryptocurrency industry such as Nick Carter of Castle Ventures spoke out against the decision, while in a separate tweet thread, Powell rebuked short-seller Jim Chanos, who had made a big short against Kraken’s biggest competitor, Coinbase. .

Carter simply tweeted the “why” on the official Kraken Twitter account, which announced the listing of the new LUNA.

The world’s fourth largest crypto exchange, Kraken lists over 160 cryptocurrencies. The list grows every month from bitcoin (BTC) to filecoin (FIL) to the second iteration of Luna, which is currently ranked 164th on its price index.

First Terra collapse wiped out nearly $50 billion, leaving suicide hotline pinned to Terra subreddit, while legal documents reveal Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon A few days before the accident, two branches and an entire company were liquidated.

RELATED: ‘Terra 2.0 Revival Plan’ Exchanges Via Airdrop, Listing, Buyback, and Burning

The project was then toughened up and relaunched with little or no reimbursement for poor investors. An airdrop, for example, was not the developers intended, as the tokens were unevenly distributed. The new LUNA declined from high around $20 to less than $8, despite a 90% rise in price. Powered by Binance Airdrop.

Price chart for LUNA showing Binance Pump as of 30 May. Source: CoinMarketCap

Powell explains that “client demand” prompted LUNA’s listing. Rohan Gray, assistant professor of law at Willamette University, called Powell out on the move, argument That eBay doesn’t allow fraudsters to be on the e-commerce platform, so why should crypto exchanges allow Terra to sit at the table? The comment was a tidbit to Powell’s claim about Kraken:

“We are a marketplace like eBay. BTC<>BTC merchants do not pay the bills.”

Powell has previously shown a decisive side to his operations, most recently closing Kraken’s global headquarters because “San Francisco is not safe.” However, when it comes to money and Kraken, “we try to be as asset-agnostic as possible,” he tweeted.

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“Fiat and most stocks are garbage but where is the outrage? The proceeds from these other coins pay for all the security, pro-BTC lobbying and marketing.”

In a separate Twitter thread, Kraken defended the future of crypto exchanges. one in crypto critics corner The podcast, Chanos – an American investment manager – detailed the brief he was building against Coinbase, America’s largest crypto exchange. For Powell, there will be a “paradigm shift in the next 10 years” and crypto exchanges will emerge as the winners.

Infighting and Twitter aside, for those seeking hints amid a war of words, Powell shares his investment preferences for choosing bitcoin, investing in exchanges, or both:

Kraken did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Cointelegraph.