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Kraken Review 2024: Here’s Why It’s the Top Crypto Exchange for Traders
Kraken has long been recognized as one of the most secure and reliable crypto exchanges. In a space where there is a lot of volatility and – at times – uncertainty, Kraken has long remained as a safe harbor for your money. When we revisited our Kraken review for 2024 for a regular check-in, we discovered a brand that continues to be rock solid in the crypto realm.
Whether you’re new to cryptocurrency or are a savvy veteran with options and the altcoin market, Kraken is one of the best places to be. Read on below for our full Kraken exchange review to see why we’re so bullish on their product.
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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
Great industry reputation (never been hacked)
Support for a variety of different funding options
Regulated and licensed in many markets
Cons
Not available to New York residents
Slow account verification
Lacks the variety of altcoins that some competitors offer
My Overview
For full disclosure, I personally use Kraken as one of my go-to exchanges. It may not have as many altcoins as some others and there might be a few limitations in terms of trading. However, I don’t worry about my money here. I’ll leave it on the exchange and sleep well at night knowing it’s safe.
What Makes Kraken A Good Choice
A lot of companies in the crypto space are nascent and new, and it’s often hard to determine whether they’re on the up-and-up or if they’re a scam. Kraken is literally at the opposite end of the spectrum and that kind of safe harbor is where you want to put your money. They work with governments to be licensed and regulated (instead of hiding from it), they are known for their security and they have great customer service.
At the end of the day, you’ll mostly feel like you’re using eTrade or something of the sort. There might be lots for users to look with cryptocurrency but using Kraken will probably feel familiar to anyone who has been on a stock trading platform before.
Kraken At A Glance
Who Is Kraken For?
I tend to want to say that Kraken is great for people who are new to the space. That’s because they make it very easy to get setup and get started with cryptocurrency. Their customer service is quite readily available too, so if you have questions, they can guide you. You don’t always get that with exchanges. For example, Binanace’s customer service tends to be very painful to use.
At the same time, if you’re a veteran in the space, Kraken is just rock-solid. Most will have an account here. It’s a safe site and a very trusted brand. We’ve seen Mt. Gox and FTX go down, and Binance’s owner spend time in jail. Kraken flies under the radar as they sail through these bumpy waters like they’re calm seas. That’s what you want in an exchange.
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)
Are Kraken Fees Low?
Kraken’s fees are dependent on two different things: if you’re using Kraken Pro or Instant Buy, and then what your monthly volume is (Kraken Pro). If you’re new to the space, you can use their Instant Buy tool. It is made for beginners and makes things easy. However, fees are higher. If you’re a little more experienced, you should use Kraken Pro.
If you are using Kraken Pro, then trading fees can go as low as 0% in some situations. That situation is unattainable for most of us, as you’ll have to trade more than $10 million per month.
How Kraken Pro works is they use the maker-taker fee model, where the market maker fees are lower than the taker fees. Maker fees are a bit higher on stablecoin markets. The more you trade, the better the rate you get. The most “expensive” fees are in the 0.25% to 0.40% fee range, so you’re in good hands here. 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 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.
Setting up a Kraken Exchange Account
Kraken requires the basic personal information to start an account. They’re a legal, licensed exchange, which means they are required comply with Know Your Customer (KYC). That will mean your basic details as well as potential verification with photos, ID and on some occasions, more. In some places, like in Canada, they are required to ask about your annual salary and your experience with cryptocurrency. While it may seem arduous, the whole process shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.
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.
Is Kraken Safe? Let's Talk About Security
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.
Frequently Asked Question
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.
