Fidor Bank veteran becomes Kraken senior legal advisor

Crazy Review : Kraken has wooed Fidor Bank veteran Edward Stadum to oversee the increasingly complex legal work of its global digital currency exchange. His first task after taking office was to deal with requests from ransomware victims to open Bitcoin accounts; because this purposeful behavior carries hidden legal risks, it is a huge challenge for the exchange; but this is also an aspect that attracts Stadum's interest. It is unknown how the former Fidor general counsel will avoid this risk, but the perfect solution to this problem will undoubtedly have a decisive impact on the future of digital currency.

Translation: Annie_Xu

Kraken has tapped Fidor Bank veteran Edward Stadum to oversee the increasingly complex legal work of its global digital currency exchange.

Stadum told the media that leaving Germany’s Fidor Bank was a good move and that overseeing Kraken’s legal affairs in Asia, Europe and the United States would be beneficial to both companies.

“Kraken actually has a very good cooperative relationship with Fidor, which provides bank accounts in EU countries for Kraken’s customers. This business relationship is very important to both companies.”

Stadium, who previously served as Fidor’s U.S. general counsel, will focus on shaping the best business practices, corporate governance, finance, acquisitions, strategy, technology and regulatory environment for the San Francisco-based company.

Ransomware threats are a top priority

Recently, ransomware threats have been rampant. Hackers use this type of network attack to freeze users' computer assets and threaten to redeem the right to use the computer with Bitcoin. Kraken users hope that the company will help open a Bitcoin account to pay the Bitcoin ransom. As the general counsel, Stadum's first task is to help Kraken handle these user requests.

Stadum said many clients turned to Kraken after being rejected by other exchanges.

“Recently, someone told us that they needed Bitcoin to pay the ransom for ransomware, and other exchanges have rejected this request.”

Therefore, another of Stadum's responsibilities at the company is to analyze the potential legal issues of opening accounts specifically for customers to pay ransomware ransoms.

“It presents an interesting challenge for bitcoin companies; they don’t know if they can, or should, offer bitcoin for this purpose. That’s exactly the challenge facing companies right now, and it’s a perfect example of my role as general counsel.”

Long-term partnership

Stadum said that Kraken had asked him to write a report on the company's legal affairs, during which he found that "Kraken was in urgent need of an excellent general counsel."

Jesse Powell

Kraken founder and CEO, Jesse Powell said:

“Edward learned about the company’s projects while leading the Kraken audit and expressed his willingness to join us. In fact, his understanding of Kraken’s work made him more willing to join us.”