Kraken Cryptocurrency Exchange Review and Comparison
Last updated: 5/6/19
Kraken, headquartered in San Francisco, California, claims to be the largest Bitcoin exchange in terms of euro volume and liquidity. It operates across the United States (with the exception of New York due to the BitLicense) and Canada, as well as in the European Union and Japan. In the following post, I will review the exchange, its different services and the customer opinion about it.
Post Summary
Kraken is a veteran US based cryptocurrency exchange that supplies an advanced trading platform complete with margin trading and OTC options. Previously scorned for the platform’s instability, the site has since revamped its service with a focus on security and customer support. Kraken also offers one of the lowest trading fees around.
- Kraken Overview
- Kraken Services
- Currencies and Payment Methods
- Kraken Fees
- Supported Countries
- Customer Support and Reviews
- Kraken vs. Coinbase
- Conclusion – Is Kraken Legit?
1. Kraken Overview
Founded by Jesse Powell in 2011, Kraken is known for its low transaction fees, wide range of features and overall security. Following the bankruptcy of former bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, the Kraken platform assisted in processing claims.
The exchange itself was launched in 2013 and has since raised over $100m, with the latest round closing in February 2019. Kraken boasts about its high liquidity, industry leading security measures and 24/7 live customer support.
Kraken holds full reserves of their customer funds. Kraken employs an independent, cryptographically-verified audit in order to prove to third parties and the exchange’s customers, that funds are properly held.
2. Kraken Services
Kraken offers its customers an advanced trading platform that includes spot and margin trading for more experienced users. Kraken’s interface offers plenty of options, but it isn’t the most beginner friendly—something to consider if you’re new to cryptocurrency.
In November 2017, Kraken was struggling to cope with increasing demand for cryptocurrencies, resulting in users receiving many different error messages and having difficulty using the exchange for its intended purpose. CEO Jesse Powell apologized for these issues.
For high volume trades (over $100K) Kraken offers Over The Counter (OTC) services with a 1-on -1 service. Additionally, frequent high volume traders can receive a dedicated account manager to take care of their trading needs.
Kraken also offers a dark pool – an order book not visible to the rest of the market. Each trader only knows their own orders. Traders can anonymously place large buy or sell orders without revealing their interest to other traders. Typically, outsized orders, when seen by other traders will cause the market to move unfavorably, making it more difficult to fill the order at the desired price. This unfavorable price movement may be avoided in a dark pool.
3. Currencies and Payment Methods
Kraken accepts the following fiat currencies:
- Euros (EUR)
- US dollars (USD)
- Canadian dollars (CAD)
Deposits and withdrawals can be made via SEPA, SWIFT, wire and domestic transfers. In almost all cases, deposits and withdrawals can be expected to take 1–5 business days. In my experience, the average deposit takes as little as 24 hours. It’s free to deposit most of the accepted cryptocurrencies, but there’s a small address setup fee in a few cases.
With regard to fiat deposits, SEPA deposits are free, making Kraken particularly convenient if you’re in the European Union and your location is on the list of SEPA countries. A bank wire transfer from within the United States costs $5 and $10, whereas it costs €10 or £10 from outside of the United States.
In terms of cryptocurrencies, Kraken currently supports 20 different coins:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Dash (DASH)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Stellar Lumens (XLM)
- EOS (EOS)
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Gnosis (GNO)
- Iconomi (ICN)
- Melon (MLN)
- Augur (REP)
- Tether (USDT)
- Monero (XMR)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Zcash (ZEC)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Cosmos (ATOM)
- Qtum (QTUM)
- Tezos (XTZ)
4. Kraken Fees
Kraken’s fees are among the lowest of all the major bitcoin exchanges. The fees you pay depend on your last 30 days’ trading volume. In general, fees are based on a maker-taker basis.
Makers, who add limit orders to the exchange, pay a lower fee than takers, who fulfill existing orders.
Spot trading fees range from 0.26% – 0.06%. Stablecoin trading range from 0.2% – 0%. Dark pool fees are a bit higher ranging from 0.36% – 0.2%. The complete fee schedule can be viewed here.
5. Supported Countries
Kraken is available worldwide except for the following countries:
- Afghanistan
- Cuba
- Iran
- Iraq
- Japan
- North Korea
- Tajikistan
6. Customer support and reviews
Kraken’s website features an extensive support guide, which covers everything from verifying your account to trading. In most cases, you’ll find what you’re looking for there. However, in the event that you do need support, you can always submit a support ticket or talk with a live rep via the site’s built-in chat.
The general consensus online is that Kraken’s main strengths lie in its low fees, advanced features, and strong security. While Kraken certainly has its advantages, it has its share of criticism, receiving a “poor” grade on TrustPilot.
Overall it seems that since the site was revamped not long ago, the level of support and platform stability has improved.
7. Kraken vs. Coinbase
I found many similarities when comparing Kraken to another major US based exchange, Coinbase, or more accurately, CoinbasePro. Both exchanges have a pretty similar fee structure and available services (OTC, margin trading, account management). However, Coinbase supports a smaller variety of cryptocurrencies.
The main difference would probably be in terms of support – where Kraken seems to be putting a lot more emphasis on support than Coinbase. Overall, if your desired coin is listed on both, it seems that there isn’t much of a difference between these two exchanges.
8. Conclusion – Is Kraken Legit?
It’s fair to say that Kraken is an option well worth considering thanks to its excellent security features and low transaction fees. However, it’s not the best option for beginners due to its more complex interface. This veteran Bitcoin exchange has gained a considerable amount of reputation throughout the years and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.
Have you used Kraken yourself? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comment section below.
Kraken
Pros
- Good reputation
- Increasing number of cryptos
- Fast and free SEPA deposits in Europe
- Available worldwide
Cons
- Not beginner friendly
- Very buggy and unstable platform
- Slow support
- Poor iOS app
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Their website just got updated, and there has been less errors now that I’ve encountered while using their website! Also, I like how some of their Support Articles have videos to show a step-by-step guide on how to use their platform. Kraken definitely has a lot of advanced features like Leverage, even though I am just a very simple user (very new to crypto!). But I like Kraken because of their security! Also, the fact that they have LiveChat support for a few months now is a big plus. I had to wait for all eternity just to get my… Read more »
I‘ve been using Kraken since 2016 now and they never let me down! I‘m managing the funds from my clients and I need a number of charting tools on a daily basis. The tools you get on their trading site are top notch, far better than what the competition offers. I had a minor issue with my login information a couple weeks back and got a friendly reply followed by restoring my access within a few hours. Really impressive! So, after using Kraken for 3 years, I‘m a happy client and would not consider switching to a different exchange anytime… Read more »
Hay…….this is Ben jones form Miami United state. i want to know that what kraken exchange is secure for treding cryptocurrencies ?
Useless platform – laggy, buggy and lots of downtime. NOT recommended, there are much better options out there.
SO THERE TECH TEAM WANT ME TO UPLOAD ID BUT CANT BECAUSE THEY CANT FIGURE OUT HOW TO REMOVE THE ONE THEY REJECTED ….
OH AND GET THIS THEY DONT CONSIDER CYTO LIQUID ENOUGH TO BE A BACKING CURRENCY ON LEVERAGED TRADES … THERE A EXCHANGE FOR GOD SAKE!!!
CS ARE COMPLETE IDIOTS WHO JUST WASTE YOUR TIME TRYING TO COME U WITH BS WAYS ITS YOUR FAULT … ITS TERRIBLE
Hi every one. Im. waiting almost an month for my wire transfer. I send kraken an email and there explaination was that my bank refuse to except the wire transfef. So i mailled my bank. My bank denied ever recieving or refusing a bank wire from kraken. So i mailed kraken back they said wire stranfer bounce back but they are having trouble returning my money or my bitcoin back. Im despointed and very upset about this situation. Im waiting for them to resolve my case for a month now. And now theyre not even responding my mails back. My… Read more »
A total score of 7.6? Really? This platform is still down way too often, customer service sucks, and you cannot withdraw more than $130,000 annually (unless you are an accredited investor). I’m thinking the total score should be well below 5!
Waiting 2 hours for a withdrawals to go through. Anyone still having holdings in kraken my advice is to move them out ASAP. These are better and secure binance **affiliate link removed** and kucoin **affiliate link removed**
One of the cons listed is “Not beginner friendly” but got 7.0 for beginner friendliness. It is a “Very buggy and unstable platform” but got 5.5 for reliability? Mystery.
I joined Kraken in sept. Since that time They have rocketed to the top of my worst websites I have EVER used. Constant 502 access errors just logging in. Constantly having to refresh and try again when placing or cancelling orders. There has not been a single day where I had no issues with the site. Reliability is a 3 at best. I regret not withdrawing my funds while I had the chance with the latest multi day downtime. I use Bitstamp as well and have never had a single issue. I stayed with kraken because of my high trade… Read more »