- >Best Crypto Exchanges
- >Kraken Exchange Review
Kraken Overview
- Exceptionally secure exchange with proof of reserves
- Supports many different funding options
- Accepts users from across the globe including USA and Canada
- Very high trading volume
Pros & Cons
Pros
One of the original cryptocurrency exchanges
Never been hacked
Support for a variety of different funding options
Benefits from a large number of positive Kraken user reviews.
Cons
Not available to New York residents
Slow account verification
No support for credit/debit cards
Set Up Your Kraken Account With These Easy Steps
Only a small amount of personal information is required to set up your Kraken account; however, you will need to provide additional verification if you’d like to use your bank account for deposits or withdrawals. Additional verification is also required to raise the limits on your cryptocurrency-based deposits and withdrawals.
Step 1: Create Your Account
To create a Kraken account you will need to provide an email, username, password and country of residence.
Step 2: Account Activation
After creating an account, you will be required to activate your account. An activation key will be sent to your email after creating an account.
Step 3: Selecting An Account Type
Kraken offers three different account types:
- Starter
- Intermediate
- Pro
Step 4: Get Verified for an Account
Upon deciding on an account type, you will need to input additional personal information, including:
- Name
- Address
- Phone Number
- Date of Birth
It should be noted that the amount of information you need to share with Kraken may also depend on your country of residence.
Step 5: Finish Setting up Account
To finish setting up your Kraken account, you will need to verify your account by providing photo identification/proof of residence. This process may take up to a few days to be verified.
Upon being verified, you can fund your account. You have the option to deposit either fiat currency or cryptocurrency/digital assets.
Do not forget to secure your Kraken account using two-factor authentication.
What Can You Buy at Kraken?
Kraken Exchange has a massive range of different cryptocurrencies available and compares very well to fellow US exchanges like Gemini and Coinbase. It does fall a little short of international exchanges like Binance. They currently offer 150+ trading pairs on the exchange.
Here is the list of crypto assets available for trade on Kraken:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Arbitrum (ARB)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Tether (USDT)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Tezos (XTZ)
- Stellar (XLM)
- Monero (XMR)
- Augur (REP)
- Cosmos (ATOM)
- Melon (MLN)
- EOS (EOS)
- Dash (Dash)
- Cardano (AMA)
- Basic Attention Token (BAT)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
- Polkadot (DOT)
- Maker (MKR)
- Filecoin (FILE)
- Pax Gold (PAXG)
- Polygon (Matic)
- USD Coin (USDC)
- Nano (NANO)
- Tezos (XTZ)
Kraken Supported Applications
Kraken supports cryptocurrency trading on both desktop and mobile devices. If you plan to trade via your smartphone you can download the Kraken app for Android or iOS. Kraken Exchange only supports holding cryptocurrencies in their custodial wallet, but you can still withdraw your coins to a non-custodial wallet whenever you want.
Does Kraken Have a Mobile App?
Yes. Kraken was initially slow to the mobile game but leap-frogged many of its competitors with the launch of not one but two mobile apps:
- Kraken App
- Kraken Pro
The two apps differ in features. The regular Kraken App offers a streamlined buy and sell interface that would be easy for even complete beginners to understand. Meanwhile the Kraken Pro app offers an advanced trading dashboard complete with stop-loss orders, take-profit orders, and stop-loss limit orders. It also offers significantly lower fees for high-volume traders.
If you’re just getting into crypto than we’d suggest the regular Kraken App.
Is Kraken Safe?
Yes. Kraken crypto exchange is considered one of the safest in operation today. Kraken uses the latest in security including two-factor authentication and Global Settings Locks.
Kraken was accused of being hacked in 2016 due to missing funds. However, the site was able to prove that it was never breached and the missing funds were due to phishing and man-in-the-middle attacks. This underscores the importance of individuals maintaining good crypto security practices.
Though Kraken crypto exchange is one of the biggest in the world, it has never been successfully hacked. It is important to note that no exchange is 100% secure and it’s always recommended to keep large amounts of cryptocurrency in your own cryptocurrency wallet.
Kraken also offers support for Yubikey, which is one of the safest methods of two-factor authentication.
Does Kraken Have Good Customer Support?
If you take a look at the average Kraken Exchange review you’ll be happy to note that customer support is frequently touted as one of the best features of the site.
It helps that Kraken is one of the only crypto exchanges that offers a support phone line so that you can talk to an actual person. You can reach them Monday to Friday from 6 am to 6 pm EST. Kraken also offers the usual support ticket via email system if you prefer to write out a question.
Finally Kraken has a quality live chat option that’s available 24/7 and even the Kraken Twitter account can be helpful.
Are Kraken Fees Low?
The fees on Kraken change depending on how often you trade each month.
Trading fees can go as low as 0% in some situations. Kraken uses a maker-taker fee model where the market maker fees are lower than the taker fees. Maker fees are a bit higher on stablecoin markets. In general Kraken is considered to have some of the lowest fees for a regulated crypto exchange.
Kraken is also considered one of the best OTC (Over-the-Counter) Bitcoin brokers on the market.
Kraken Compared
We took a deep dive into how Kraken compares to a number of alternative exchanges. Find our most popular ones below:
Final Verdict On Kraken
There will be exchanges that are better for low market cap altcoins and NFT’s. Kraken is adding more to their menu (in both regards) as we speak, but that’s not what they’re known for. If you’re looking for a safe and secure exchange with a great reputation and on-point customer service, Kraken is for you. They’ve been one of the longstanding pillars in this industry. Our 2024 Kraken review simply reinforced that view. That’s why they’re among our best recommendations in this space.
FAQ
While Kraken may not be the best option for absolute cryptocurrency beginners who are not interested in trading regularly, the exchange works well for those who want to get into trading for the first time. The level of customer support offered by the exchange is exceptional, and the exchange helps those who may be unfamiliar with a lot of trading terminology get started. Additionally, even those who are unfamiliar with how cryptocurrency works will be able to take advantage of Kraken’s enhanced security features.
While Kraken was originally intended to fill the void left by Mt. Gox once it collapsed, the reality is a variety of different exchanges have grown in popularity since Mt. Gox went bankrupt in 2014. While it would be untrue to claim that Kraken has replaced Mt. Gox as the most dominant cryptocurrency exchange on the market, the volumes on the exchange have continued to grow at a slow and steady pace over time.
While it is not recommended to leave cryptocurrencies on exchanges when you aren’t actively trading, Kraken has a reputation for being one of the most (if not the most) secure exchanges on the market. Security is the top priority for this exchange, which is why they have been able to operate for such a long period of time without facing any serious hacking incidents.
The minimum amount of money you are able to deposit onto Kraken will depend on the method of deposit and the country of origin for the deposit.
For American customers, the deposit minimum is 20 dollars by way of ACH or FedWire transfer. It should be noted that these deposit options come with a $5 fee.
Kraken customers in Europe are able to deposit as little as 1 euro via SEPA without any associated fees.
Canadians are able to deposit as little as $20 CAD via in-person transactions at a Canada Post location.
The minimum deposits for customers in Great Britain and Japan are 150 GBP and 15,000 JPY respectively.
For a starter account where you are only trading crypto assets, account verification can take as little as a few minutes; however, this sort of automated verification is not always available.
Those who need to provide additional forms of verification to increase their account limits or enable new deposit and withdrawal options can expect a processing time of one to five days.
It is easier to list the countries that Kraken doesn’t offer services to. Currently, Kraken is unavailable to residents of the following countries;
- Afghanistan
- Cuba
- Guinea-Bissau
- Iran
- Iraq
- Japan
- North Korea
- Tajikistan
It is important to note that while Kraken is available to users in the United States, residents of Washington State and New York cannot use Kraken at this time.
Kraken bought Cavirtex in 2016, and all Cavirtex accounts have been converted to Kraken accounts since then.
Kraken’s fees are not particularly high, although it makes sense to compare fee levels at different exchanges for your specific level of expected use.
Kraken users have experienced delays on deposits and withdrawals before, but these delays are usually due to issues that are not specific to the exchange. There have also been instances of delays in the sign-up and verification processes in the past; however, this tends to happen with every exchange during times when the crypto market is heating up.