# Thanh Luu

> Thanh Luu is a person who co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, served as its CTO contributing to its infrastructure, and sits on the Payward board of directors.

- Canonical URL: https://iq.wiki/wiki/thanh-luu
- Categories: People in crypto
- Tags: Developer, Founder
- Created: 2026-09-20T09:46:12.433Z
- Last updated: 2026-09-20T09:46:12.433Z
- Source: IQ.wiki — the world's largest blockchain and crypto encyclopedia (https://iq.wiki)

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**Thanh Luu** is a technologist and [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) entrepreneur best known as a co-founder of [Kraken](https://iq.wiki/wiki/kraken), one of the earliest [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) exchanges. He co-founded the exchange in 2011 alongside [Jesse Powell](https://iq.wiki/wiki/jesse-powell) and [Michael Gronager](https://iq.wiki/wiki/michael-gronager) and has been associated with its technical development in infrastructure, security, and compliance.[\[1\]](#cite-id-ltpwr6ccc8) 

## Early Life and Education

Thanh Luu was born in 1985 in Hanoi, Vietnam.[\[1\]](#cite-id-ltpwr6ccc8) He studied computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, the academic foundation for the engineering and infrastructure work that would define his later career in the cryptocurrency industry.[\[1\]](#cite-id-ltpwr6ccc8)​

## Career

### Kraken

Luu co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange [Kraken](https://iq.wiki/wiki/kraken) in 2011 with [Jesse Powell](https://iq.wiki/wiki/jesse-powell) and [Michael Gronager](https://iq.wiki/wiki/michael-gronager), placing him among the founders of one of the first generation of digital-asset trading platforms.[\[1\]](#cite-id-ltpwr6ccc8) Within the company, his work has been associated with technical expertise and a focus on infrastructure, security, and compliance — the systems that allow an exchange to hold customer funds and operate under regulatory obligations.[\[1\]](#cite-id-ltpwr6ccc8) The [KuCoin](https://iq.wiki/wiki/kucoin) profile credits his contributions with helping establish Kraken as a benchmark in the cryptocurrency industry for security, transparency, and a stated commitment to financial freedom, and describes him as maintaining a low-key presence while continuing to influence the direction of decentralized finance through Kraken's strategy.[\[1\]](#cite-id-ltpwr6ccc8)​

### Circuit

Luu is the chief technology officer of Circuit, a company described as building the foundations for "agent finance" — financial infrastructure oriented toward autonomous software agents. According to the August 2025 X post announcing the role, he moved into the position as [Kraken](https://iq.wiki/wiki/kraken) was preparing for an IPO, applying the infrastructure experience developed at the exchange to the new venture.[\[3\]](#cite-id-5daftgtmi2)​