Kraken is a San Francisco, California-based Crypto exchange that claims to be the largest in euro volume and liquidity. In this Kraken crypto exchange review, I’ll take a look at the exchange’s features, plus what people are saying about it.
Kraken is a San Francisco-based digital currency exchange that provides a barter platform for over 40 different digital currencies. The site also offers users an OTC trading service (over-the-counter), whereby traders can buy or sell any of the supported cryptocurrencies to anyone, even if they are not registered.
What is Kraken Crypto Exchange Review?
Kraken is a Bitcoin exchange based in the US, EU, Canada, Japan, and Australia. It was launched in 2011 by Jesse Powell and is known for its low transaction fees, wide range of features, and overall security.
Kraken has assisted in processing claims after the bankruptcy of former bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox. Kraken operates across the United States (excluding New York due to the BitLicense) and Canada as well as in the EU and Japan.
Its most recent funding round was in February 2019; Kraken boasts about its high liquidity, industry-leading security measures, and 24/7 live customer support.
What CryptoCurrencies Does Kraken Support?
Kraken currently supports more than 100 cryptocurrencies, you can find the list below:
- 0x (ZRX)
- 1inch (1INCH)
- Aave (AAVE)
- Aavegotchi (GHST)
- Acala (ACA)
- Akash (AKT)
- Algorand (ALGO)
- Altair (AIR)
- Ankr (ANKR)
- Aragon (ANT)
- Astar (ASTR)
- Augur (REP)
- Augur v2 (REPV2)
- Avalanche (AVAX)
- Axie Infinity (AXS)
- Badger DAO (BADGER)
- Balancer (BAL)
- Bancor (BNT)
- Band Protocol (BAND)
- Basic Attention Token (BAT)
- Bifrost (BNC)
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Bonfida (FIDA)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Cartesi (CTSI)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Chiliz (CHZ)
- Compound (COMP)
- Cosmos (ATOM)
- Covalent (CQT)
- Curve (CRV)
- Dai* (DAI)
- Dash (DASH)
- Decentraland (MANA)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- dYdX (DYDX)
- Energy Web Token (EWT)
- Enjin Coin (ENJ)
- Enzyme Finance (MLN)
- EOS (EOS)
- Ethereum (“Ether”) (ETH)
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
- Filecoin (FIL)
- Flow (FLOW)
- Gnosis (GNO)
- ICON (ICX)
- Injective Protocol (INJ)
- Karura (KAR)
- Kava (KAVA)
- Keep Network (KEEP)
- KILT (KILT)
- Kin (KIN)
- Kintsugi (KINT)
- Kusama (KSM)
- Kyber Network (KNC)
- Lisk (LSK)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Livepeer (LPT)
- Loopring (LRC)
- Maker (MKR)
- Mango (MNGO)
- Mina (MINA)
- Mirror Protocol (MIR)
- Monero (XMR)
- Moonbeam (GLMR)
- Moonriver (MOVR)
- Nano (NANO)
- Ocean (OCEAN)
- OmiseGO (OMG)
- Orca (ORCA)
- Orchid (OXT)
- Origin Protocol (OGN)
- Oxygen (OXY)
- PAX Gold (PAXG)
- Perpetual Protocol (PERP)
- Phala (PHA)
- Polkadot (DOT)
- Polygon (MATIC)
- Qtum (QTUM)
- Rarible (RARI)
- Raydium (RAY)
- REN Protocol (REN)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Saber (SBR)
- Serum (SRM)
- Shiba Inu (SHIB)
- Shiden (SDN)
- Siacoin (SC)
- Solana (SOL)
- Star Atlas (ATLAS)
- Star Atlas DAO (POLIS)
- Stellar Lumens (XLM)
- Step Finance (STEP)
- Storj (STORJ)
- Sushi (SUSHI)
- Synthetix (SNX)
- tBTC (TBTC)
- Terra (LUNA)
- TerraUSD (UST)
- Tether* (USDT)
- Tezos (XTZ)
- The Graph (GRT)
- The Sandbox (SAND)
- Tron (TRX)
- Uniswap (UNI)
- USD Coin* (USDC)
- WAVES (WAVES)
- Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC)
- Yearn Finance (YFI)
- Zcash (ZEC)
Kraken Payment Methods and Fees
Kraken accepts the following fiat currencies:
- Euros (EUR)
- US dollars (USD)
- Canadian dollars (CAD)
- Australian dollars (AUD
- British pound (GBP)
- Swiss franc (CHF)
- Japanese yen (JPY)
Deposits and withdrawals can be made via SEPA, SWIFT, wire transfer, and domestic transfers. In most cases, deposits and withdrawals can be expected to take 1–5 business days. In my experience, the average deposit takes 24 hours or less with some cryptocurrency transactions requiring an address setup fee in rare instances. It is free to deposit almost all cryptocurrencies.
The SEPA deposit is free, so Kraken is easy to use if you are in the European Union or one of the countries on the list of SEPA countries. Transfers by bank wire cost $5 to $25 from within the United States, and under $10 from outside of the United States.
Trading Fees
Kraken offers low trading fees, just like the rest of the major bitcoin exchanges. When you trade on Kraken, your fees are determined by your 30-day trade volume. Generally, the higher your recent trading volume, the lower your fee will be.
The maker pays a lower commission when placing a limit order to buy or sell an asset than the taker, who buys or sells at the current price.
- Spot trading fees range from 0.26% — to 0%.
- Stablecoin trading fees range from 0.2% — to 0%.
- Dark pool fees range from 0.36% — to 0.2%.
How to Sign Up and Trade on Kraken?
- Visit Kraken.com and Click on the Create Account button in the upper-right corner.
- Enter your email address, a username, and a strong password on the signup form.Note: the username cannot be changed.
- Confirm your password, complete the captcha if asked, and click the Activate Account button.
- Congratulations! You have successfully created your Kraken account and you’re ready to get started.
Is Kraken Safe?
Kraken was founded with security in mind, so it hasn’t been hacked since its launch in 2013. It’s widely regarded as the most secure exchange for trading cryptocurrencies. Still, no online wallet is completely immune to hacks, and the issue of digital security is a hot topic in the cryptocurrency space. Here’s more on how Kraken approaches security.
- Kraken says 95% of its crypto assets are kept in cold storage (online but disconnected from the Internet and thus more secure against cyberattacks). It also has full reserves (safety net) and undertook a third-party forensic audit.
- Kraken keeps its physical servers under 24/7 video surveillance. Sensitive data is encrypted at both a system and data level.
- Through its bug bounty program, Kraken motivates ethical hackers to look for vulnerabilities in its systems.
Kraken Pros and Cons
Pros
- Security
- Range of cryptocurrencies
- Advanced trading features
- Reasonable fees
Cons
- Not for beginners
- Limited starter account
- Slow account funding
- No tax support
Conclusion
Available for both experienced and novice traders, Kraken is a Bitcoin exchange still worth checking out — especially considering its low transaction fees and high level of security. However, there may be a steeper learning curve than on other exchanges.
