What is Kraken?
Kraken is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. It has been in business in the United States since 2011. Kraken is also one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the industry. Traders from all over the world use it because it has low fees, easy to use, and has good safety measures and rules. You can buy, sell, and trade over 120 different cryptocurrencies. They also have extra features like staking, margin trading, and futures contracts.
Pros of Kraken
- Well-established exchange with a great reputation
- In operation since 2011
- Easy-to-use trading platform ideal for beginners
- Supports over 120+ cryptocurrencies and 7 fiat currencies
- Live Chat support with a real person 24/7
Cons of Kraken
- Doesn’t have a wide selection of tokens compared to other large crypto exchanges
Kraken Exchange History and Background
Kraken was established by crypto pioneer Jesse Powell in 2011 and introduced to the market in 2013. Since then, it has become one of the industry’s most trustworthy crypto exchanges. Kraken is a fully regulated crypto exchange based in San Francisco, US, which requires Know Your Customer (KYC) checks for trading.
Moreover, it has the distinction of being the crypto exchange chosen by the Tokyo District Court to handle consumer compensation claims linked to the 2014 collapse of the notorious Mt. Gox exchange.
Throughout its years of existence, Kraken has earned a reputation among traders and institutional investors as a secure platform. It was the first crypto exchange to pass the Proof-of-Reserves cryptography audit and supplies Bloomberg Terminal with cryptocurrency market pricing data.
Kraken is a self-regulated exchange that adheres to guidelines and rules in all jurisdictions it services.
- It is registered with FinCEN in the United States (registration number 31000136371793)
- Registered with FINTRAC in Canada as a Money Services Business (MSB) (reg. no. M19343731).
- Kraken Futures is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom (reg. no. 757895).
Besides the exchange’s headquarters in San Francisco, it also maintains offices in London in the United Kingdom, Chiyoda City in Japan, and Singapore. Since securing over USD 126 million in venture money, it has purchased a variety of crypto-focused firms, including CryptoWatch, CleverCoin, Coinsetter, Cavirter, Bit Trade, Crypto Facilities, and InterChange.
At the time of writing this article, Kraken serves around 4 million clients in over 200 countries.
User Experience
Kraken provides consumers with two trading platforms, Kraken and Kraken Pro. Kraken Pro offers reduced prices and is accessible to all Kraken account holders.
Depending on your active market trading and cryptocurrency experience, you may pick Kraken or Kraken Pro. In any case, there is a platform ideal for both novices and experts.
Kraken
The best place for beginners to start is the basic Kraken crypto exchange. With a verified account, you can easily purchase cryptocurrency from a connected bank account, and it’s just as simple to sell or exchange digital currencies within the account.
In addition to trading cryptocurrency, you’re able to your stake your deposited cryptocurrency and earn up to 23% interest, depending on the currency.
Be sure to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) to protect your account, which stops anybody from accessing your account without your device.
Kraken Pro
Kraken Pro is an active trading platform accessible by the web browser or mobile device. The UI may be intimidating for novice traders, but it may be worthwhile to learn. It contains additional market information, including live charts and an overview of open orders.
Kraken Pro is available to everyone with a valid Kraken account. You will pay less using Kraken Pro as opposed to the standard platform.
Features of Kraken
When you begin exploring options for crypto exchanges, you will likely discover that there are many alternatives and only a handful of major players. Kraken is one of these exchanges and the key features that keep on attracting clients:
Lower fees:
Kraken provides cheap costs for spot trading, beginning at 0.16% for makers and 0.26% for takers. If you are a high-volume trader, the costs are further lowered on a tiered basis. At the tier with the largest trading volume, maker fees are 0% and taker fees are 0.10%.
Over 120 coins supported:
On its platform, Kraken supports over 120 different cryptocurrencies. Kraken offers the most popular cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, EOS, LTC, ADA, XLM, BAT, and ETC. Although they may not have as many selections as other big exchanges, they often add new coins to their selection.
Mobile apps for iOS and Android:
Kraken has gone above and beyond by providing 3 mobile apps each caters to different types of traders depending on the sort of trading you engage in.
The main application is named simply Kraken, which is what the bulk of users choose. It has received over 500,000 downloads and a 4.2 user rating.
Kraken Pro offers sophisticated trading capabilities such as 5x margin trading, complex order types, and conditional closing parameters, among others.
There is also an app called Kraken Futures that caters particularly to traders interested in futures trading.
Purchase Crypto Directly With Fiat:
On Kraken, you can buy altcoins directly with USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CAD, CHF, and AUD. Not every fiat currency is compatible with every cryptocurrency.
For example, using USD, you can access all cryptocurrencies and JPY only allows you to purchase ETH, BTC, XRP, BCH, LTC, and USDT. Nonetheless, you may effortlessly convert JPY to USD and have access to the complete selection of cryptocurrencies.
Trade Crypto on the Market or Buy/Sell Instantly:
Kraken customers have the opportunity to trade cryptocurrencies on the market or use the instant buy option.
Convenient for new traders who may not yet know how to traverse crypto trading, the instant buy option has a 1.5% cost.
You can obtain the desired asset at the specified price immediately from the crypto exchange. Similarly, you may sell your cryptocurrency back to Kraken at the quoted price without any processing delays.
Trading on the market is preferred for individuals who wish to purchase or sell at a certain price, and it also incurs cheaper costs. The low trading fees are starting at 0.16% for makers and 0.26% for takers.
24/7 Live Chat Support Team:
Kraken boasts exceptional customer support, an area where many major cryptocurrency exchanges fall short. Many other exchanges are too big to meet the needs of each user individually, so any questions are sent to an automated bot that gives scripted answers and links to articles on the web.
Kraken, on the other hand, offers Live Chat around-the-clock and is incredibly responsive. If you want to submit a request through telephone or email, those alternatives are easily available.
Advanced Trading Terminal:
Kraken provides a free professional trading terminal, Kraken Terminal, with highly customizable charts; you may use numerous chart styles, overlays, indicators, and drawing tools to analyze any of the markets.
In addition, you may configure browser alerts for price, volume, and specific technical analysis notifications, and have your trades and orders shown right on the chart. On the chart, you can also view your prior transactions and current open orders, which is a helpful tool.
The Kraken Terminal is a highly sought-after feature among the more experienced crypto investors.
Margin and Futures Trading:
On Kraken, experienced traders will enjoy margin trading and futures trading options. Kraken’s margin trading enables long or short positions on a number of coins with up to 5x leverage, 0.02 % costs to establish a trade, and negligible rollover fees.
Kraken provides access to the trading of regulated futures products and is committed to offering a stable and comprehensive platform for trading cryptocurrency futures globally. Currently, they provide Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ripple futures with up to 50x leverage.
Staking Your Coins:
If you have researched cryptocurrency trading, you may have heard about staking. Staking is an excellent strategy to increase the value of your cryptocurrency holdings since it generates interest on idle coins.
Kraken enables staking on fiat currencies, which is uncommon among other cryptocurrency exchanges. You may choose to stake any of the coins offered to receive staking rewards on top of your holdings and to build your holdings by compounding future rewards.
OTC Desk Services:
Institutions traders and high-net-worth individuals will appreciate the individual care provided by Kraken’s OTC desk. The OTC is appropriate for big positions exceeding $100,000 that might disrupt the market if executed on open markets and enables for discrete, secure execution.
As an OTC customer, you will receive personalized service from initial consultation to trade execution, as well as trade reports and professional market insights. Every fiat currency and cryptocurrency available on Kraken is covered by the OTC desk, which provides global coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except for important holidays.
Forex Trading:
Besides cryptocurrency trading, Kraken now offers FX trading, which is a great addition to the platform. With minimal trading costs and a sophisticated trading interface, you will enjoy trading forex on Kraken.
Secure and Reliable Protection:
Kraken is completely committed to protecting clients’ assets and privacy, implementing rigorous security measures to prevent the theft of assets and personal data.
95% of digital assets are stored offline in geographically dispersed, air-gapped cold storage, and their servers remain under armed 24-hour supervision.
Kraken is a reputable crypto exchange governed by FinCEN that provides financial stability with full reserves, solid banking partnerships, and the highest legal compliance standards.
Opening a Kraken Account
Similar to signing up for a stock brokerage or any cryptocurrency exchange, Kraken registration is similar. If you have all of your information on hand, it simply takes a few minutes to activate your account.
You will be required to submit your name, address, phone number, and Social Security Number during registration. This information is required under know your customer (KYC) regulations in the finance industry.
To validate your account and gain access to all trading functions, you must submit a copy of a government-issued photo ID and a photograph of yourself holding that ID. Without this information, account functionality is severely limited.
Supported Deposit and Withdrawal Methods
Kraken offers several deposit and withdrawal options. These include cryptocurrency deposits and bank transfer deposits of fiat cash. There are no credit card or debit card deposit alternatives for instant purchases of cryptocurrencies.
The supported fiat deposit and withdrawal bank transfer options include:
- FewWire/FewWire: 1 – 5 business days
- SWIFT: 2 – 5 business days
- Silvergate Exchange Network: near-instant
- SEPA: 0 – 5 days
- Canadian domestic wire transfer: 1 – 3 days
- In-person cash/debit via Canada post: 30 – 60 minutes
- InterFIn: 0 – 10 min
- FPS/BACS: 0 – 3 days
- CHAPS: Same day
- SIC: near instant
Kraken Fees
Deposit Fees
For the large majority of digital currencies, there are no costs associated with deposits to Kraken.
There may be a cost when putting fiat currency into Kraken, depending on the currency and deposit method used. For instance, using FedWire (MVB Bank) to deposit USD is free, but using FedWire (Synapse) to deposit USD costs $5.
Instant Buy, Sell and Convert Fees
- Using Instant Buy/Sell to trade cryptocurrencies directly on Kraken incurs a 1.5 % charge for each transaction.
- The charge for converting one cryptocurrency to another is 1.5 % for every transaction.
- The charge for purchasing a stable coin using another stable coin (USDT, USDC, or DAI) or with USD is 0.9%.
Debit and Credit Card Fees
If you live in a supported country, you can buy cryptocurrencies immediately with a debit or credit card (not available in the USA). The purchases will be performed in euros; thus, if your primary currency is not euro, you must verify that your debit/credit card issuer can perform currency conversions. The transaction costs for debit and credit cards are 3.75 % + €0.25.
Kraken Withdrawal Fees
- To withdraw cryptocurrencies from Kraken, a fixed fee is charged to cover the transaction. The crypto withdrawal fee varies based on the coin being withdrawn.
- There may be costs associated with withdrawing fiat currency from Kraken, depending on the currency and method used.
Kraken Trading Fees
Spot Trading Fees: First-tier starts at 0.16% for makers and 0.26% for takers. As your trading volume increases, you get cheaper fees based on this tiered structure.
Margin Trading Fees: Margin fees are applied to the trading fees at the opening or closing of a trade. The opening fees for most margins are 0.02% with a rollover fee of 0.02% every 4 hours. There are a few exceptions where the opening fee is 0.01% and the rollover fee of 0.01% every 4 hours.
Futures Trading Fees: Starting tier of futures trading fees is at 0.02% for makers and 0.05% for takers, with reduced fees applicable for high-volume traders.
Security
If you follow good online security practices, cybercriminals who want to steal money from your Kraken account should not be able to do so. Once an account has been funded, it is highly recommended to use two-factor authentication.
Different two-factor codes can be generated at sign-in, account withdrawals, and transactions. If you have reason to believe that your account has been compromised, you can also freeze your account to prevent any modifications.
While the majority of customers have a positive experience, some users reported hacked accounts in which the owner lost everything and had no means to retrieve the lost assets. Due to the irreversibility of blockchain transactions, crypto accounts are a prominent target for fraud. When using Kraken or any other crypto exchange, be aware of the following dangers.
Kraken takes security extremely seriously, and none of its wallets have ever been breached. Since its introduction in 2011, its platform has been offline only once, in January 2018, and that was to execute critical system improvements.
In addition to this improvement, a variety of other precautions are taken to reduce the likelihood of digital assets being stolen through its system, including the following:
- New deposits are transferred directly to offline ‘cold’ wallets.
- Most of the digital assets are stored in cold wallets, only the coins required to maintain liquidity being kept in online ‘hot’ wallets.
- Small amounts of coins are stored in semi-cold wallets, these are machines with locked drives.
- All wallets and data are encrypted.
How Kraken Compares to Other Cryptocurrency Exchanges
Kraken has features better than the average industry competitor and is priced cheaper as well. Check out the following disparities between Kraken and Coinbase, another prominent cryptocurrency exchange:
Kraken vs. Coinbase
- Over 110 coins are supported by Kraken for spot trading. Coinbase supports over 150 different coins.
- Both exchanges allow you to profit by staking your cryptocurrency at variable interest rates. In general, Kraken offers better payouts and lets users stake with a greater quantity of coins.
- Kraken enables cryptocurrency futures, whereas Coinbase only covers spot currency markets.
- Kraken’s trading costs are often cheaper than Coinbase’s for the majority of cryptocurrency transactions. Both receive extra fees on the difference between the purchase and sale prices.
Summary of Kraken Review 2022
Kraken is an internationally renowned cryptocurrency exchange thanks to its numerous features, user-friendliness, customer support, and top-tier security. With support for more than 120 cryptocurrencies, 7 fiat currencies, and extra services like staking, margin trading, futures trading, and an over-the-counter (OTC) desk. Kraken is a perfect crypto exchange for rookie investors, seasoned day traders, and institutional traders alike.
