Kraken Review 2024: Kraken, a crypto exchange, started two years after Bitcoin. Despite not being the oldest, Kraken is well-known and offers a highly secure platform. It has over 120 different coins available in the U.S. and its prices are generally lower than average.
Who Is Kraken Good For?
Kraken can be used by people all around the world and by most people in the United States. But if you live in New York or Washington, you can’t use it right now.
Potential customers should know that Kraken only takes a few types of regular money. This means people from some countries might have to pay extra fees to convert their money. But if you’re in the U.S., you don’t need to worry because they accept U.S. dollars.
What Makes Kraken a Good Choice
Kraken is a great option for both new and experienced crypto traders because it offers excellent security, low fees, and a wide variety of cryptocurrencies to trade.
Beginner users should avoid spending too much time on Kraken’s basic platform. Kraken Instant Buy charges a 0.9% fee for stablecoins and a 1.5% fee for other cryptocurrencies, which are high compared to competitors.
Experienced traders who use Kraken Pro for trading pay fair fees and can trade many different cryptocurrencies.
As they trade more, the fees get lower. Kraken also offers a variety of coins and margin trading features. However, in the U.S., only users with large account balances can do margin trading.
Kraken’s Disadvantages
Kraken’s basic trading program, Instant Buy, has high fees. Many new crypto investors might not realize how expensive these fees are.
When using Instant Buy, Kraken charges 1.5% for all trades and 0.9% for stablecoin trades. It’s important for beginners to be careful when trading cryptocurrencies on Kraken or any other platform.
Kraken Features
Trading Fees
The Instant Buy option on Kraken has higher fees compared to using the Kraken Pro trading platform, which might be more appealing to newcomers who aren’t familiar with maker/taker models.
It’s quicker to buy crypto with Instant Buy, but you’ll pay more in fees. Learning to use the trading platform could help users save money.
With Instant Buy, the company adds a 0.9% fee for stablecoins and a 1.5% fee for other cryptocurrencies. If users use an online bank account to buy crypto, they’ll also have to pay a 0.5% processing fee. Additional fees apply if you use a credit or debit card.
If you choose Kraken Pro, you’ll pay less in fees. They charge a 0.16% fee when you make a trade and a 0.26% fee when you take a trade, if your trades are $50,000 or less and within the last 30 days.
The following table illustrates the pricing tiers for Kraken Pro:
| 30-Day Volume (USD) | Maker Fee | Taker Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Less than $50,000 | 0.18% | 0.29% |
| $50,001 to $100,000 | 0.12% | 0.28% |
| $100,001 to $250,000 | 0.17% | 0.26% |
| $250,001 to $500,000 | 0.15% | 0.25% |
| $500,001 to $1,000,000 | 0.06% | 0.22% |
| $1,000,001 to $2,500,000 | 0.10% | 0.20% |
| $2,500,001to $5,000,000 | 0.08% | 0.18% |
| $5,000,001 to $10,000,000 | 0.05% | 0.16% |
| More than $10,000,000 | 0.01% | 0.4% |
Security
Cryptocurrencies have often been targeted by hackers, leading to millions of dollars worth of coins being lost. Even though many hacked exchanges have refunded their users, it’s risky to use a crypto exchange with weak cybersecurity because your coins could be easily stolen.
Kraken cares a lot about security and is ranked second on the crypto exchange security review site CER. It’s important to mention that Kraken hasn’t experienced any big hacking incidents. However, some users have complained on online forums about their accounts being hacked.
Kraken keeps your coins safe by storing 95% of them offline in secure locations around the world. Plus, it ensures platform security by closely guarding its servers with armed guards and constant video surveillance.
Kraken uses strong security measures to protect your contact info. They encrypt it and regularly check for weaknesses in their system. Kraken recently won an award for their security efforts.
Opening a Kraken Account
The Instant Buy platform might make Kraken seem expensive for starting in crypto, but there aren’t any obstacles if you’re new. You’ll get verified quickly.
However, signing up for Kraken Pro can be slow since they need to manually check some documents, which can take a few days.
After you’ve confirmed your identity, you can add money to your account using regular money like U.S. dollars, and then buy cryptocurrencies.
You can use credit cards or debit cards to add money to your account. If you’re new to investing, you might find Kraken’s expectations of what you already know a bit much, but they do provide some helpful educational material.
However, when it comes to actually investing, you’re mostly on your own. Kraken works in the U.S., but people in New York and Washington can’t use it.
What Kraken Can Do to Improve
More Fiat Currencies
Kraken only accepts eight types of regular money right now. They support big currencies like U.S. dollars, British pounds, and euros.
But if you’re from a place like India with lots of people, you might need to change your money to one of these supported kinds or to a cryptocurrency to trade. Doing this can cost you extra money.
Lower Instant Buy Fees
Even though Instant Buy is simple to use, its expensive fees can reduce a user’s money. Instant Buy lets people quickly trade cryptocurrencies on Kraken’s platform. Plus, Kraken Starter users can get verified in less than two minutes and start trading right away.
However, if you’re new to trading, it’s better to make just one or two trades on Instant Buy before you get into understanding more complicated fees like maker/taker fees and switch to Kraken Pro. This is because Instant Buy charges a 0.9% fee on stablecoins and a fixed 1.5% fee on other cryptocurrencies, which can add up fast.
Methodology
We ranked crypto exchanges by looking at what nearly 25 different ones offer. We checked everything they provide to decide which ones are best overall and which are best for beginners. Our team made a standard way to do this by looking at 10 important features and factors across all the platforms.
We added up the importance of different factors to rank each brokerage or exchange. We didn’t include margin trading, platform lending, or advanced trading when selecting the best crypto exchanges for beginners.
