Kraken Review

There are thousands of different cryptocurrencies and almost as many different places to buy them, which are called exchanges. Selling and buying cryptocurrencies via an exchange is the way to go, especially using a CEX. So, in this Kraken review, we’ll explore one of them.

Known for its advanced features and worldwide availability, Kraken is definitely one of the most reputable exchanges. You'll understand what I mean in no time because I'll cover everything about its security measures, fees and more! Shall we begin?

Oleg Giberstein

Co-Founder and COO at Coinrule

What should you know when choosing a cryptocurrency exchange?

Safety first. Make sure you do your research and feel confident that the exchange you are dealing with is reputable. Don't hold all your funds on one exchange. Always use two-factor authentication for added security.

Kraken Review: The Kraken Story

Once upon a time, in San Francisco, California, there was a young man named Jesse Powell who was a big fan of all things crypto.

In 2011, Jesse visited the offices of Mt. Gox, which was the world’s biggest crypto exchange. During his visit, Jesse was shocked by what he saw. Mt. Gox had been hacked, and Jesse could see why. It was poorly managed and in danger of losing its customers’ money.

Jesse decided to build a safer and better-organized exchange and called it Kraken.

By 2014, Kraken was one of the most respected exchanges in the business. Within the same year, Mt. Gox got hacked again, lost $460 million worth of BTC (which equals billions now) of its customers’ money and went bankrupt.

Jesse Powell recognized that user trust is a fundamental pillar of any exchange.^[1] That's why Kraken formed links with banks in Germany and Japan. It was also the first crypto exchange listed on the Bloomberg Terminal (a tool used by bankers around the world). Thus, Kraken became a platform that customers could trust!

In 2017, Kraken faced several challenges, including performance issues, an overwhelming number of new users, and cyberattacks. To address these, the exchange temporarily shut down for updates in January 2018, lasting about a week. Fans praised the platform for taking the issues seriously. However, some people believed that the issues would continue.

I understand the worry since the world of crypto can be unpredictable, but after the shutdown, Kraken returned with improved performance and enhanced security.

What is Kraken?

As I already mentioned in this Kraken exchange review, it's essentially a platform where you can trade cryptocurrencies. However, it definitely offers more than that. In fact, Kraken is not just an exchange— it’s a whole ecosystem with a bunch of features and products built around it.

First of all, Kraken supports more than 360 cryptocurrencies, which you can also buy with fiat money.

For beginners, Kraken offers a simple trading experience,  making it very easy to buy and sell crypto. But if you’re not a beginner, you may find more advanced trading options on Kraken Pro.

For those who are new to crypto, Kraken offers plenty of information on its website. You can visit the "Learn" section to master the basics and the "Support" section to find answers to your questions and useful tips.

On top of these, Kraken has its own wallet within this ecosystem. You can use it for storing and managing your assets directly on the exchange, or as a separate Web3 wallet for even more flexibility.

So, Kraken isn’t just a place to trade—it’s a full-on crypto hub with tools for all levels of users!

Did you know?

Compare Crypto Exchanges Side by Side With Others

All Crypto Exchanges may look similar to you but they're NOT all the same!

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Kraken Review: PROS

We’ve started this Kraken review on a solid note, but now I want to go into more detail about the platform’s best features. That way, you’ll get a better idea of why it’s so popular!

Fiat Currency Support

Some exchanges only allow crypto-to-crypto trading, which can limit your strategies and complicate the process of purchasing. That being said, fortunately, this is not the case with Kraken. It allows you to buy crypto with seven different fiat currencies.

Kraken allows users to trade in these fiat currencies:

• US Dollars (USD)
• Japanese Yen (JPY)
• Canadian Dollars (CAD)
• British Pounds (GBP)
• Euros (EUR)
• Australian Dollars (AUD)
• Swiss Franc (CHF)

Thanks to this support on Kraken, you don’t need to visit other exchanges before you start trading.

High Security

First, let's break down the main question: Is Kraken safe? The short answer is yes.

Jesse Powell and the Kraken team learned a lot from the Mt. Gox hacks. Kraken takes security very seriously and implements several measures to protect users' funds. It has built a solid reputation for safety over the years, so it’s no surprise that over 13 million users trust the platform!

Kraken keeps most of the users' funds in cold storage, which is very important since software storage solutions are more prone to malicious activities. Also, it has multiple dedicated teams to ensure safety.

Kraken has worked hard to gain global trust, becoming one of the first exchanges to demonstrate its ability to securely manage customer funds. It achieves this by conducting proof-of-reserve audits, a process that allows banks or exchanges to show their customers that their funds are properly safeguarded.

It also conducts regular security tests through third-party companies to address any reported vulnerabilities immediately, ensuring that security measures remain high-quality over time.^[2]

Moreover, to be able to trade on Kraken, you need to sign up and go through a KYC process to verify your identity.

Plus, it offers users two-factor authentication (2FA) for their account safety. Meaning that, on Kraken, you will have two kinds of passwords. The first password is set up by you, and the second is created by an app like Google Authenticator or Yubico. You can also add your passkey instead of using an authenticator app.

Vast Selection of Crypto

Kraken offers a good choice of cryptocurrency to trade with. Some exchanges only offer the most popular coins. On Kraken, you can trade over 360 different cryptocurrencies and even more trading pairs.

Trading pairs are currencies put into pairs and given a relative value. It’s a bit like the Bureau de Change at the airport, where the pairs look like this: 1 USD = 149 JPY. Somewhat similarly, a trading pair on Kraken will look like this: BTC/USD or BTC/ETH. Trading pairs can be both fiat-to-crypto or crypto-to-crypto.

The more popular a cryptocurrency is, the more trading pairs it will have.

However, even though it supports a decent number of assets and pairs, some exchanges offer even more. For instance, as of writing, Binance supports over 500 cryptocurrencies, while Bybit goes even further, offering more than 1,600.

24/7 Customer Support

Multiple exchanges have poor customer support, and Kraken was initially one of them. However, the company has made efforts to improve its services and succeeded. Now, it offers 24/7 customer support via live chat and email.

However, it's important to remember that crypto exchanges aren’t banks, and they don’t aim to be. There usually isn’t a telephone number you can call or a physical office to visit if you encounter an issue. You’re on your own! That's why you should take advantage of the most secure wallets.

Functional Mobile App

Kraken has an app for trading that allows you to use it on the go. It has a clear interface and is super simple to use. What is more, you'll be able to take advantage of exceptional trading features.

In the app, you can perform nearly all the same actions that you can on the desktop. So, you can seamlessly access features like buying and selling, staking, and comprehensive charts.

Moreover, you can set price alerts to stay informed about markets with notifications sent directly to your phone.

Both the Basic and Pro versions are available on the Kraken app, and switching between them is very easy with just one click!

Various Trading Options

Apart from simply buying and selling crypto using fiat, Kraken provides several trading options that cater to different needs, including spot, margin, futures, and OTC trading. You can also stake your assets and earn rewards, allowing you to generate passive income from your crypto holdings.

Moreover, to simplify trading, Kraken offers a Convert option. With this feature, you can simply select the currencies and amounts you want to exchange to complete your transaction instantly. Plus, Kraken even has its own NFT marketplace.

Just keep in mind that, as I've mentioned earlier in this Kraken review, the platform has two different modes, each with its own features. Kraken is geared toward basic transactions, while Kraken Pro delivers a more advanced trading experience.

📚 Read More: Kraken Staking

Kraken Wallet

As you already know, Kraken is more than just an exchange—rather, it's a whole ecosystem that also includes the Kraken Wallet.

Although Kraken Wallet can be used as a separate wallet, you can log in using the same credentials as your Kraken account and easily transfer assets between the two platforms. This seamless connectivity is often praised in user Kraken reviews.

With its multi-chain support, this wallet allows you to securely store over 2,000 different cryptocurrencies, as well as manage your NFTs and interact with dApps. However, keep in mind that hot wallets don't offer the same level of security as cold wallets, which keep your private keys offline.

📚 Read More: Kraken Wallet Review

Kraken Review: CONS

Now, this Kraken review is not only about the good stuff; you need to know the not-so-pleasant aspects, too. Don't worry; there are not many issues you need to be aware of.

Regulatory Issues in the US

Kraken is available in over 190 countries, including most of the US states, providing its services to a broad global audience.

However, it has faced some regulatory challenges with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2023. The SEC sued Kraken for allegedly operating without proper registration and mixing customer funds with corporate assets. However, Kraken denied these claims.

Fortunately, Kraken took steps to resolve the issue and, as a result, continues to operate in the US, including resuming its staking services for US customers (you can even "stake" Bitcoin via opt-in staking).

Relatively High Fees

Some less favorable user Kraken reviews point out that traders believe its fees aren't the lowest available. This is especially true for Instant Buy, where fees can go as high as 1.5% for crypto purchases and 0.9% for stablecoins, plus additional processing costs. Also, Kraken imposes a 3% fee when converting balances below the minimum order size using the "Convert small balances" feature.

That said, let's take a look at Kraken fees in more detail.

Kraken Fees

Kraken trading fees range between 0% and 0.40%. What you are charged per trade depends on whether you are a maker or a taker. A standard trading fee for makers is 0.25%, while takers usually pay 0.40%.

Table: Kraken's standard fees

Kraken fees also depend on the 30-day trading volume and currency pair that is being traded. The standard fee applies for users with up to $10,000 trading volume. However, as their trading volume increases, these fees decrease accordingly.

When it comes to Kraken withdrawal fees, they vary depending on your location and the method used. For example, if you want to withdraw USD and have an American bank account, it will cost you $5. Not bad, right? However, if you don’t have an American bank account, it will cost you at least $13 for a SWIFT transfer.

Kraken fees are much lower for cryptocurrency withdrawals. For example, Kraken charges 0.00001 BTC to withdraw Bitcoin and 0.0005 ETH to withdraw Ether.

📚 Further Reading: Kraken Fees

Kraken KYC: Past & Present

Before getting into the practical part of my Kraken review, let's talk a bit about its KYC process.

As you're already aware, you will need to pass KYC to be able to trade on the platform. This means that you will have to prove that you are who you claim to be, which helps the exchange to prevent any malicious activity. In this sense, the proof required consists of various types of personal information and documents.

Kraken has three KYC levels, each requiring additional documents and offers different limits. If you are an individual who doesn't trade that much, an intermediate level should be sufficient. It requires basic identity verification, which I’ll walk you through how to complete later in this Kraken review.

However, if you plan to deposit or withdraw more than $100,000 per month or trade OTC, you'll also need to provide proof of funds.

Table: Advantages of different levels of KYC on Kraken

But it was not always like that. Kraken used to have five tiers (or levels) of verification (0-4). The first three levels didn’t need much proof, but the last two needed quite a lot. Tier 0 used to let you look around, and that’s it. To trade, you needed at least Tier 1 verification. This is also how it is now if you are not intermediate-level verified.

To get Tier 1 verification, you needed to enter your name, date of birth, country, and telephone number. As a Tier 1 user, you were only able to deposit (put in) or withdraw (take out) with cryptocurrencies. There was also a$2,500 limit on how much cryptocurrency you could withdraw each day. Well, Tier 1 was not a lot of fun. So, it was way better getting verified at least to Tier 2.

Tier 2 allowed you to deposit and withdraw fiat currencies, which were limited to $2,000, and cryptocurrency withdrawals were limited to $5,000 each day. There were no limits on cryptocurrency deposits.

However, that was where most users stopped the verification process since you were also obligated to give proof of address. Now, if you want to be a verified user at all, this is already the minimum requirement for the first verification level.

Kraken also had Tier 3 and Tier 4, which offered higher withdrawal limits. While these verifications weren't mandatory in most cases, if you lived in the US, Canada, Germany or Japan, then you were required Tier 3 verification to deposit and withdraw fiat currencies.

For this, you needed proof of your current living address, showing a utility bill or another similar document, in addition to a government-issued ID. Tier 4 was designated for businesses and high-value traders.

Tier 1 and 2 verification mostly took only a couple of minutes to pass, while Tier 3 and 4 verification could take several days. It's not much different now, Intermediate verification is processed quickly, usually within minutes, while Pro and Business verification can still take up to a few days.

How to Use Kraken

So, you already know what Kraken is and its pros and cons. Now, it's time to move further and figure out how to start using Kraken.

How to Sign up on Kraken?

If you've read my Kraken review up to this point, you already know that before starting to trade, you need to sign up and complete KYC. I'll show you how to register and verify your identity on the Intermediate level since it allows you to do almost everything—except OTC trading.

Go to the Kraken homepage and click [Sign Up]. Create a username and password, then enter your country of residence. While choosing a password, do not use easily predictable words or numbers like "PASSWORD1234", you're better than that! Well, Kraken is not going to let you do such a thing anyway.

Your password should include at least 12 characters with one number, one special character and one letter in it.

You’ll receive an email from Kraken with an activation code, copy it and go back to the registration page.

While the actual account creation ends here, you cannot do much without identity verification, so let's talk about that.

Paste the code you copied here and click [Activate Account].

You need to enter your first and last name, phone number, and residential address. When entering your address, keep in mind that you will need to prove that you reside there. This means you must be able to provide a document confirming that you have lived there within the last three months.

Select the country that issued your ID (only passport, national ID, or driver's licenses are accepted) and choose one of the document types.

Take a photo of the front side of your government-issued document or upload it from your device, then wait for the document to be verified, which usually takes less than a minute. Then, do the same process for the back of the document.

Grant camera access to your device and align your face in the center of the screen. Most devices automatically capture the image, so you usually don’t need to click anything. Make sure that your face is clearly visible, meaning that there should be no overexposure or blur.

In this part, you'll need to provide estimated answers about how you will fund your account, which trading options you plan to use, and your expected monthly trading volume.

Try to be as precise as possible because if you end up trading significantly more than what you stated in a short period, it may be flagged as unusual activity.

Upload a document that clearly shows your name and address and is no older than three months.

Now that you're signed up, it's time to secure your account. Even though it's not mandatory, I strongly recommend using two-factor authentication on any exchange that offers it.

To do that, go to your account screen, click [Security], and then select Two-Factor Authentication. Click [Enable]. As I said earlier, you can either add a passkey or use an authenticator app; it's totally up to you.

Okay, that’s all the boring stuff done. Let’s deposit crypto into your account!

How to Deposit Your Kraken Account?

After completing the verification process on your Kraken account, the platform will ask whether you want to continue with a Pro or Simple account. Since the Pro version is slightly more complex, I chose to use it to explain how to deposit funds and trade.

After logging into your Kraken Pro account, go to the [Portfolio] option from the left menu of your account screen to fund your account and click the [Deposit] button in the top right corner.

You can search for and select any cryptocurrency from the list. I chose Tether (USDT).

If you want to fund your account by making a fiat currency bank transfer, keep in mind that fees will be charged depending on which fiat currency you’re using and where you live. For example, deposits in Euros are free if you are in the EEA. These fees may also vary based on the specific method used in the transaction.

The network list will display fees and the estimated deposit time. I went with Arbitrum One.

After selecting a network, copy the wallet address you see on the screen and send your desired amount of USDT to this address from your crypto wallet.

The processing time depends on network congestion. For example, Arbitrum One had an estimated deposit time of 15 minutes, but the estimated time may vary if you choose another network.

If you don’t want to trade right away, you can stake the crypto you deposited on Kraken and earn passive income regularly.

📚 Further Reading: How to Stake Crypto on Kraken

How to Trade on Kraken?

Kraken offers all kinds of different trading, and it can get very complex. As a newbie, I suggest always using Kraken Simple and options like spot trading. When you’ve been using the platform for a while, you can explore more options. For now, let’s go over how to place a market order in spot trading.

In your Kraken account, click on [Trade] from the left-hand menu. You can trade with the default pairs shown, or you can search for a specific one using the search bar. I selected the BTC/ USDT pair.

When you first enter the Trade section, the default order type might be set to "Limit". It refers to buying a cryptocurrency for a set price, while market order is purchasing the currency at the best current price available. In this sense, market orders are quicker and simpler than limit orders. Click on [Limit] to see other options, then select [Market].

To complete the purchase, you can either enter the amount of BTC you want to buy or the amount of USDT you want to spend. I chose to buy BTC worth 5 USDT, so I entered 5 in the USDT field. After that, I clicked the green [Buy BTC/USDT] button.

Once you click the button, a window will appear. Simply confirm the transaction, and you're all set!

Note that it is better to use exchanges for trading only. Avoid using exchanges to store cryptocurrency for long periods of time. Storing crypto online or in hot storage isn’t a good idea. It's best to keep most of your crypto offline or in cold storage.

You’ve now learned quite a lot about Kraken, but is it the right exchange for you? I’m going to help you answer that question in the next part of my Kraken review.

Who is Kraken Best for?

Other Kraken reviews might tell you that Kraken isn’t for beginners. This is sort of true. Kraken is a big platform with lots of confusing features. Even expert traders can find it hard to use.

However, I would recommend Kraken for beginners. Think of learning to trade on Kraken as if learning to drive a car. You’re not going to win the Monaco Grand Prix in your first lesson! You start small. First, you learn how to turn on the engine and only then how to drive, right?

Kraken actually makes this process even easier by offering two versions, which we have already discussed: Kraken Pro and Kraken Simple. The Simple version is perfect for beginners, providing an easy way to buy, sell, and manage assets without dealing with complicated charts and order types.

Once you get comfortable, you can switch to Kraken Pro, which unlocks advanced features. While some cryptocurrency exchanges are limited, Kraken is a pretty extensive platform. It allows users to do margin trading and short selling, among other things.

All in all, if you begin with Kraken, you won’t need to learn how to use another platform. You can deposit fiat money in minutes and start making market trades for as long as you want.

Conclusions

Now that you’ve read this Kraken review, you should know that it’s a comprehensive but slightly confusing platform. However, Kraken offers great features for every level; it also provides reliability and security.

Despite its relatively high fees, I think Kraken still stands out with its intuitive interface, balancing ease of use for beginners with advanced trading tools for experienced users. Whether you’re just starting out or looking for more sophisticated trading options, Kraken offers a smooth experience that makes it worth trying.

So, if you're looking for the most recommended cryptocurrency exchange platform, you should know that Kraken is one of the best options that you can find.

The content published on this website is not aimed to give any kind of financial, investment, trading, or any other form of advice. BitDegree.org does not endorse or suggest you to buy, sell or hold any kind of cryptocurrency. Before making financial investment decisions, do consult your financial advisor.

Scientific References

1. M. H. ur Rehman, K. Salah, E. Damiani, D. Svetinovic: ‘Trust in Blockchain Cryptocurrency Ecosystem’;

2. J. Qian: ‘The Value of Auditor Assurance in Cryptocurrency Trading’.