We can easily say that Kraken is one of the leading crypto exchanges in the world. Operating since 2013 and with the headquarters in San Francisco, this e-wallet is one of the ‘oldest’ in the industry. And being one of the oldest certainly has its own perks. One is the fact that the Kraken is one of the those go-to options for both newbies and experienced crypto-traders.
Furthermore, the Kraken is currently available in 176 countries, and 48 US states. Which is a clear indicator that it is among the most used in the USA. This crypto-exchange has one of the biggest cryptocurrency offers on the market. Currently there are 70 cryptocurrencies available for trade. Consequently, you can see why this exchange is one of the favorites.
Operating since 2013, the Kraken is definitely among the creme de la creme of the crypto-exchange scene. Due to the simplicity and safety, it is safe to say that it is one of the US customers favorite crypto-options. And for the entire world for that matter. Founded by Jesse Powell, the company is practically built thanks to the fall of Mt. Gox. Mt. Gox was the leading crypto-exchange between 2011-2014. Following the company demise in 2014, the plan of Mr. Powell was to turn the Kraken into the next Mt.Gox. Initially, the company started out in 2011.
But after two years of development and testing, in September of 2013 the Kraken emerged on the scene. And right from the start it was clear that we have a quality product. In fact, in just one year the Kraken became one of the first even bitcoin exchanges to end up on the Bloomberg Terminal listing. Today, the company is known for its frequent acquisitions, as well as their billion dollar ventures, which are just byproducts of quality work.
The only thing that most of the beginners will use Kraken for is probably crypto-trading. As such, you are definitely in the right place to turn your fiat currency into digital coins. One of the main reasons why the Kraken is a go to option has to be the convenience of the platform. The guys from Kraken have made sure that you have a state of the art platform.
Yet, at the same time it is very simple and literally everyone can learn how to operate. Experienced crypto-traders also love the Kraken, simply because it offers certain professional features that many crypto-exchanges lack. Take a look at what you can expect to find:
Kraken is definitely built for trading. With 70 cryptocurrencies on disposal, it literally needs no explanation. Among those 70 currencies you can expect to find pretty much every single crypto-currency you can think of. Bitcoin, Litecoin, Etherum, Riplle and etc. The Kraken got you covered any day of the week. Whether you are a professional or a newcomer, there are a plethora of useful order options you can enjoy using. Consequently, for beginners the best such options are:
For more advanced users, the more advanced options as bellow:
Kraken is very compatible for mobile devices, and have several excellent trading apps under their belt. And the best part is that you can select the right app for you, based on your current crypto-knowledge. Specifically, there are Kraken, Kraken Pro and Kraken Futures. Out of the three, the regular Kraken app is the one for beginners, while the Kraken Pro and Kraken Futures are for the more seasoned players.
APP
Kraken Pro
Kraken Futures
Moreover, the Kraken Futures enables pro traders to enclose existing positions without any extra cryptocurrency in order to maximize the market movement. Finally, the futures exchange is under license by UK’s FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), which is UK official financial regulator. However, it is good to mention that currently the futures feature is not available for US customers. Regardless, for those who can, you can trade futurers with the following currencies:
Kraken works with fees just like any other exchange. The only difference is that with Kraken you are in for probably the lowest Bitcoin withdrawal fees on the market. Specifically, Kraken will charge 0.00015 BTC fee for any withdrawal with the said cryptocurrencies.
And that is the case with many of the most famous digital coins in this exchange. Furthermore, it seems like regardless of the offerings, the fees are in the customer favor. Just take a look at the fee structure bellow and see what we mean:
Instant Buy
You can instantly buy, sell or convert any crypto currency. There are three fees you can expect to pay:
Kraken Pro
Kraken is using maker-taker fees with volume incentive solely based on your past 30 day activity. These fees are meant to encourage traders to be more free in engaging the market:
30 Day Volume
$0-$50.000
$50,001 – $100,000
$100,001 – $250,000
$250,001 – $500,000
$500,001 – $1,000,000
$1,000,001 – $2,500,00
$2,500,001 – $5,000,000
$5,000,001 – $10,000,000
$10,000,000 +
Maker
0.16%
0.14%
0.12%
0.10%
0.08%
0.06%
0.04%
0.02%
0.00%
Taker
0.26%
0.24%
0.22%
0.20%
0.18%
0.16%
0.14%
0.12%
0.10%
Stablecoin & FX Pairs
This particular fee will apply to all FX pairs(USD/EUR), as well as where a stablecoin will be the base currency. Should the stablecoin be only the quote currency, than the fee schedule from Kraken Pro applies:
30 Day Volume
$0 – $50,000
$50,001 – $100,000
$100,001 – $250,000
$250,001 – $500,000
$500,001 – $1,000,000
$1,000,000+
Maker
0.20%
0.16%
0.12%
0.08%
0.04%
0.00%
Taker
0.20%
0.16%
0.12%
0.08%
0.04%
0.00%
Margin Fees
Margin Fees apply in addition to trading fees at the opening and closing of the margin positions.
Base Currency
BTC (Bitcoin)
BTC (Bitcoin)
DASH (Dash)
ETH (Ethereum)
ETC (Ethereum Classic)
LTC (Litecoin)
Polkadot (DOT)
XMR (Monero)
USDT (Tether)
Quote Currency
EUR, USD
GBP, CAD, USDT
EUR, USD, BTC
EUR, USD, USDT, BTC
EUR, USD, ETH, BTC
EUR, USD, BTC
ETH, EUR, USD, BTC
EUR, USD, BTC
EUR, USD
Opening Fee
0.01%
0.02%
0.02%
0.02%
0.02%
0.02%
0.02%
0.02%
0.01%
Rollover Fee
0.01% per 4 hours
0.02% per 4 hours
0.02% per 4 hours
0.02% per 4 hours
0.02% per 4 hours
0.02% per 4 hours
0.02% per 4 hours
0.02% per 4 hours
0.01% per 4 hours
Kraken Futures
This fees offer volume incentives based solely on your futures trading activity in the past 30 days.
30 Day Volume
$0 – $100,000
$100,001 – $1,000,000
$1,000,001 – $5,000,000
$5,000,001 – $10,000,000
$10,000,001 – $20,000,000
$20,000,001 – $50,000,000
$50,000,001 – $100,000,000
$100,000,001 +
Maker
0.0200%
0.0150%
0.0125%
0.0100%
0.0075%
0.0050%
0.0025%
0.0000%
Taker
0.0500%
0.0400%
0.0300%
0.0250%
0.0200%
0.0150%
0.0125%
0.0100%
Kraken is built to be easy to use for everyone. For that matter, you can expect that both depositing and withdrawing funds with this exchange is like a walk in the park. It is quite easy to link your bank account with this exchange. And the best part? The safety. Kraken is arguably one of the most secure exchange platforms on the market.
Moreover, Kraken offers a few ways to top-up your account. Via fiat currencies, digital coins and corporate funding options. If you opt to go for fiat currencies, you will find USD, EUR, CAD, JPY, GBP, CHF and AUD among the available options. You can use several banking methods to perform the deposit. Options such as Ethana Custody, FPS, CHAPS, and BACS, Wire transfer, POSconnect Interfin Transfer, Fedwire, SWIFT, Silvergate Exchange Network, Osko and Bank Frick. Consequently, the usual waiting time is between 1-5 days before the deposit appear in your balance.
For crypto top-ups you pretty much have the most known digital coins on disposal. Currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Qtum, Zcash, Ripple, Litecoin, Cardano and Monero are just some of the sound names. Deposits with crypto are instant.
Furthermore, withdrawals have also quite flexible fees, and are easy to perform. You will find that you can ask for a withdrawal request via both crypto and fiat currencies. Should you ask via fiat currency, you will see that the minimum amount varies depending on several factors. One is the continent/state, and the other is the banking method. This amount can vary between 2 euros for certain Europe countries, up to 1.000 CAD and 15.000 JPY, for Canada and Japan respectively. The waiting period is also a variable. Meaning that the time for the requests to be processed can vary between instant and 5 business days.
Finally, for crypto the deal is pretty much the same. The withdrawal fee, along with the withdrawal minimum amount(which includes the fee) differs depending on the digital coin. To give you a perspective for the best-known crypto-coins and fees that come with them: Bitcoin 0.00050 BTC, Ethereum 0.004 ETH, Litecoin 0.01 LTC, Ripple 25 XRP, Dogecoin 50 DOGE and Dash 0.01 DASH(normal send) are some of the most used.
Yes, Kraken has the Staking feature. And not only that, you could win some rewards here as well. This useful tool is the perfect if you wish to stake both your fiat and cryptocurrencies. In addition, you can earn the rewards by staking crypto and fiat for a certain time. For that matter Kraken enables staking some of the hottest digital coins at the moment. More specifically, you can stake your funds in Polkadot, Kusama, Cardano, Flow, Ehtereum, Cosmos, Tezos, Kava, Bitcoin Euro and US Dollar.
What is most cool here, each of these options will contribute with a different percentage towards your staking rewards. Moreover, Kraken even has On-chain and Off-chain staking. On-chain enables you to stake all of your assets with the blockchain Proof of Stake, like Tezos for example. Off-chain allows staking your assets with Kraken internal programs only.
This exchange has a quality customer service. It is responsive, helpful and usually gets good grades on many online forums. You can contact the team via live chat, or you can open the separate Contact menu and select your specific inquiry. Just have in mind that Kraken does not employ a phone, nor enables communication via email. Meaning that although it is 24/7, you only have the live chat. This is a clear sign that the customer support department is one area where the Kraken could somewhat improve and improvise.
The Kraken is definitely one of the first suggestions you got when starting out with crypto. That is the case for many, many beginner traders out there. And for quite a few experts as well. Ever since emerging in 2013, Kraken is leading the way in providing simplicity, in a state of the art exchange platform. It already has one of the biggest crypto-libraries, it is available in 176 countries world wide and it also enables several unique features.
Additionally, the fees with Kraken are also quite satisfactory, as is the whole trading experience. There are also several different mobile apps, meant for different level trading-enthusiasts. Regardless of your pedigree, the Kraken is really for everyone. We should mention awesome features such as staking, or post limit order. Or the fact that there is a 24/7 customer service.
Consequently, and probably the biggest perk of all – safety. The Kraken can easily brag to have never been hacked. A feature which speaks volumes about the effort that the guys from this crypto-exchange put into safety. So, if you are on the look for a modern, easy to use and features-packed crypto-exchange, than we definitely recommend giving the mighty Kraken a shot.