Kraken Review: Pros, Cons & All You Need to Know

Found on July 28, 2011, Kraken is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges on the web. It’s popular for offering investors low trading fees and access to a wide array of coins. Another reason people love this platform is its simplistic interface—which is so easy to understand and simple to use that even a kid could navigate it without facing any trouble whatsoever.

But is it the right crypto wallet for you? That depends on your specific needs. Everyone’s looking for different qualities in a crypto wallet. So we can’t say for sure if Kraken, or any other wallet for that matter, is the right fit for you. Only you can decide if a wallet is ideal for you because no one knows what you need better than yourself. To find out whether Kraken is the right crypto wallet for you, read our comprehensive review and decide for yourself.

Is Kraken Legal and Safe?

Whether Kraken is legal for you depends on the area of your residence. You can read the entire list of areas where Kraken is legal right here.

As far as safety is concerned, Kraken uses the best safety protocols in the industry. They take multiple security measures to ensure your account remains as safe as possible at all times. However, security is ultimately a shared responsibility. No matter how safe a platform is, your account may still get hacked if you don’t take the following safety measures:

  • Use a strong password that’s not easy to guess.
  • Use 2-FA (two-factor authorization) on your account.
  • Keep your email protected.
  • Bookmark Kraken on your browser and only use that web address. If you get an email that’s addressed to you by Kraken, check the link to ensure it’s not a fake version trying to steal your account information.
  • Protect your cloud storage data.

How Does Kraken Work?

As you know, Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange. So they match orders from customers who want to buy cryptocurrencies with orders from other customers who want to sell their cryptocurrencies. It’s that simple. As for their interface, it’s among the simplest on the web and you can get the hang of it almost instantly.

How Does Kraken Make Money?

Kraken has multiple sources of income. To name a few, they make profits from the crypto trades that take place on their platform, transaction fees on the Kraken debit card, and the spread when users convert to fiat currency.

Who Can Use Kraken?

As long as you reside in an area where Kraken is legal and you’re over 18 years of age, you can use Kraken. They really have no other criteria for joining. So basically, anyone can join.

What Can You Trade On Kraken?

Kraken offers access to one of the widest ranges of cryptocurrencies of any exchange on the internet. You can buy, sell, or hold the following cryptocurrencies on the Kraken platform:

  • Bitcoin (BTC)
  • Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
  • Dai (DAI)
  • Dash (DASH)
  • Dogecoin (DOGE)
  • Litecoin (LTC)
  • Monero (XMR)
  • Nano (NANO)

Those are just some of the cryptocurrencies that Kraken supports. As we mentioned, the total number of cryptocurrencies you can trade on their platform is over 100. You can find the entire list here.

How to Deposit Money In Kraken?

Here’s a step-by-step process for depositing money on Kraken:

  1. Sign in to your Kraken account.
  2. Click on the “Funding” tab that’s located at the top of the screen.
  3. Click on the “Deposit” button.
  4. Select the currency you want to deposit.
  5. Specify the amount you want to deposit.
  6. Select your payment method and enter its details.
  7. Double-check the transaction details before confirming your deposit.

How to Withdraw Money from Kraken?

Here’s a step-by-step process to withdraw money from your Kraken account:

  1. Sign in to your Kraken account.
  2. Click on the “Funding” tab that’s located at the top of the screen.
  3. Click on the “Withdraw” button and use their search bar to find the currency you want to withdraw.
  4. Use the drop-down menu to select a funding provider.
  5. At this point, if you haven’t already, you will be asked to add your bank account.
  6. Once you’ve added your bank account, repeat steps one to four again.
  7. Double-check the transaction details before confirming your withdrawal.

The Fees Users Have to Pay at Kraken

Like the vast majority of cryptocurrency exchanges, Kraken utilizes a maker-taker fee model. Transactions that provide liquidity (makers) are charged different fees than transactions that take liquidity (takers).

30-Day Volume (USD)Maker FeeTaker Fee
$0 – $50,0000.16%0.26%
$50,001 – $100,0000.14%0.24%
$100,001 – $250,0000.12%0.22%
$250,001 – $500,0000.10%0.20%
$500,001 – $1,000,0000.08%0.18%
$1,000,001 – $2,500,0000.06%0.16%
$2,500,001 – $5,000,0000.04%0.14%
$5,000,001 – $10,000,0000.02%0.12%
$10,000,000+0.00%0.10%

One important thing to note here is that a user’s fee volume is measured through the equivalent market value of the listed “Fee Volume Currency” at the exact time the trade takes place. So that currency may be different from the pair’s base or quote currency.

Insightful Tips for Using Kraken

Here are three insightful tips from successful traders on the Kraken platform.

  1. Leverage Price Alerts: Kraken allows you set alerts for changes in prices. As you can imagine, these alerts can really come in handy.
  2. Use the Kraken Referral Program: Kraken offers an affiliate program with an industry-leading payout of 20% of the trading fees collected from all clients you refer to them. So if you have any friends you can refer to their platform, you can benefit a lot from it.
  3. Subscribe to Kraken Pro: Kraken Pro offers a wide variety of features that aren’t available to the regular users of the platform. Those features can really make a difference in your trading experience. What’s more, Kraken Pro users have to pay significantly lower fees on transactions.

The Most Noteworthy Pros and Cons of Kraken

Like any other platform, Kraken has multiple pros and cons, among which the following are the most noteworthy.

The Top Pros of Kraken

Here are the top three pros of the Kraken platform:

  1. Kraken offers access to one of the widest varieties of cryptocurrencies. At the time of this writing, the platform supports over 110 cryptocurrencies and is regularly adding more tokens.
  2. The platform has a user-friendly interface that anyone can get the hang of almost instantly.
  3. The platform offers one of the highest liquidity levels on the market. No matter which token you’re trading, you can rest assured it will be easily sold or bought at Kraken.

The Worst Cons of Kraken

There are two main cons to the Kraken platform:

  1. Kraken has a pro app that offers users the best experience. While that is a good thing for users who’re paying for premium, it’s bad news for non-premium users. Their accounts have several restrictions along with higher fees that are a deal-breaker for many.
  2. Compared to other popular crypto exchange platforms like Binance and Coinbase, Kraken has a lot more reports of hacks. Many people believe their platform doesn’t have the best safety protocols.

The Most Frequently Asked Questions About Kraken

Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about Kraken that haven’t already been answered in this guide.

1. Is there a Kraken Pro App?

Yes, there is a Kraken Pro app that’s available for iOS on the Apple App Store and also for Android on the Google Play store.

2. How Many Kraken Accounts Can I Have?

An individual can only have one Kraken account. Violating this policy can lead to all accounts getting banned.

3. Is there a Minimum Deposit and Withdrawal Amount On Kraken?

Yes, Kraken has a minimum deposit limit of $100 and a minimum withdrawal limit that varies depending on the crypto token you’re trying to withdraw. You can read the list of minimum withdrawal amounts for all cryptocurrencies on Kraken here.

4. Is Kraken Wallet Cold Storage?

Kraken is a mix of cold and hot storage. About 95% of all your deposits are kept in offline, air-gapped, geographically distributed cold storage. The remaining 5% are kept in hot storage.

5. How Can I Find My Transaction ID On Kraken?

Finding a transaction’s ID on Kraken is pretty simple. Just go to your transaction history, find the transaction you need the ID for, and it will be mentioned right next to that transaction.

Subscribe
Notify of

0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x