KUALA LUMPUR (April 9): United States-based cryptocurrency exchange and bank Kraken is shutting down its global headquarters in San Francisco.

Cryptocurrency news portal Cointelegraph on Friday (April 8) cited Kraken chief executive officer Jesse Powell as saying the decision was because "San Francisco is not safe".

It said Powell retweeted an announcement stating that the exchange will close its global headquarters at 548 Market Street, in the centre of San Francisco.

In the statement, a copy of which was initially tweeted by San Francisco-based political commentator Richie Greenberg, Powell stated: “We shut down Kraken’s global headquarters on Market Street in San Francisco after numerous employees were attacked, harassed and robbed on their way to and from the office.”

The portal reported that Coinbase, another US-based cryptocurrency exchange, will also close its San Francisco headquarters in 2022; however, no mention of crime or homelessness was cited regarding the decision.

Instead, Coinbase is following the lead of its competitor Binance to become a fully remote, global company, it said.