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Kraken

Kraken is a US-based custodial crypto exchange run by Payward, Inc., founded in San Francisco in 2011 and open to the public since September 2013. Instant buys and sells in the Kraken app carry a 1% fee plus a spread, while the Kraken Pro order book charges 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker at the entry tier.

Cost: Kraken Pro order book: 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker at the entry tier ($0+ 30-day volume), falling to 0.00% maker and 0.05% taker at the top tier. Tiers use the better of your 30-day spot volume or your assets held on Kraken. Instant buys, sells and converts in the Kraken app charge a 1% trading fee (1.5% on custom orders) plus a variable spread and any payment-method fee. Kraken+ ($4.99/month) waives that trading fee on up to $10,000 a month, but not the spread. The round trip shown is 2 x the Kraken Pro entry taker rate. A $1,000 buy-and-sell costs about $16.00 in Kraken fees.

Sign-up perk: Up to $75 in the US once the new user deposits fiat from a bank and meets the offer's trading requirement within 15 days of signing up.

Checked 2026-10-27 · sources below
Round trip fee
1.6%
buy + sell, platform fee
$1,000 buy + sell
$16.00
before network + pool fees
Fees paid, 30d
—
not tracked by DefiLlama
US availability
Partly available
UK: available · EU: available
Open Kraken

More on Kraken: Is it legit? · Referral code · Fees · Alternatives · US alternatives

Quick answers

Custody
Custodial
KYC
required
Platforms
web, ios, android, desktop
Launched
2013-09

Best for: Traders in the US (outside New York and Maine), UK or EEA who want a long-running regulated exchange and will use Kraken Pro limit orders rather than the 1% instant-buy flow.

Kraken fees

FeeTypeRateApplies toNote
Kraken Pro taker fee (entry tier) platform 0.8% Buy and sell Tier 1, $0+ 30-day spot volume. Charged on orders that fill immediately; falls with volume or assets held on Kraken.
Kraken Pro maker fee (entry tier) platform 0.4% Buy and sell Tier 1. Some lower-liquidity pairs use a maker rebate schedule (0.38% maker at Tier 1).
Instant buy/sell trading fee (Kraken app) platform 1% Buy and sell Applies to instant and recurring buys, sells and converts on Kraken.com or the app. Custom orders cost 1.5%. Kraken+ waives this on up to $10,000 a month.
Instant buy/sell spread spread — Buy and sell Built into the quoted price; varies with volatility, asset, order size and account activity. Kraken may keep any excess spread. Not waived by Kraken+.
Payment method fee other — buy May apply to card, Apple Pay/Google Pay, ACH or account-balance purchases; the fee shown at confirmation is the fee charged.
Convert Small Balances other 3% sell Fixed fee on amounts below the minimum order size.
Stablecoin and FX pairs (entry tier) platform 0.2% Buy and sell Pairs such as USDT/USD or EUR/USD: 0.20% maker and taker at $0+ volume. USDG-base pairs are 0.00% maker / 0.01% taker.
Crypto withdrawal fee network — sell Per-asset fee, for example 0.000015 BTC, 0.00014 ETH or 0.005 SOL; Lightning BTC sends cost 0.1%. Final fee shown at confirmation.
Trade sizeKraken fee, buy + sell
$100 $1.60
$1,000 $16.00
$10,000 $160.00

Fee tiers

TierRateRequirement
Tier 10.8%$0+ 30-day spot volume; maker 0.40%, taker 0.80%
Tier 20.6%$2.5K+ volume; maker 0.30%, taker 0.60%
Tier 30.38%$10K+ volume or $20K assets on Kraken; maker 0.22%, taker 0.38%
Tier 40.35%$25K+ volume or $50K assets; maker 0.20%, taker 0.35%
Tier 50.3%$50K+ volume or $100K assets; maker 0.15%, taker 0.30%
Tier 60.25%$100K+ volume or $200K assets; maker 0.12%, taker 0.25%
Tier 70.22%$250K+ volume or $400K assets; maker 0.10%, taker 0.22%
Tier 80.2%$500K+ volume or $600K assets; maker 0.08%, taker 0.20%
Tier 90.18%$1M+ volume or $1M assets; maker 0.06%, taker 0.18%
Tier 100.15%$2.5M+ volume or $2.5M assets; maker 0.04%, taker 0.15%
Tier 110.12%$5M+ volume or $5M assets; maker 0.02%, taker 0.12%
Tier 120.1%$10M+ volume or $10M assets; maker 0.00%, taker 0.10%
Pro 10.09%$50M+ volume or $20M assets; maker 0.00%, taker 0.09%
Pro 20.08%$100M+ volume or $25M assets; maker 0.00%, taker 0.08%
Pro 30.07%$250M+ volume or $50M assets; maker 0.00%, taker 0.07%
Pro 40.06%$400M+ volume or $80M assets; maker 0.00%, taker 0.06%
Pro 50.05%$500M+ volume or $100M assets; maker 0.00%, taker 0.05%
Kraken+0%$4.99/month or $49.99/year; zero trading fee on up to $10,000/month of instant buy, sell and convert (spread and payment fees still apply; Kraken Pro trades excluded)

Perps: taker 0.05%, maker 0.02% — Kraken Pro futures at Tier 1 (under $5M 30-day futures volume); falls to -0.006% maker / 0.0125% taker at the top tier. Futures are not available to customers in Canada, the US or New Zealand under this schedule. Simple perps in the Kraken app charge 0.25% to open and 0.25% to close, in certain regions.

Platform fees only. On-chain network/priority fees, pool (LP) fees and price impact are extra and vary by trade.

Full Kraken fee breakdown →

Is Kraken legit?

Exchange balances are held by Kraken. Its Wyoming-chartered subsidiary Kraken Financial (a Special Purpose Depository Institution) offers custody to eligible clients in certain states. Kraken Wallet is a separate self-custody app.

Backers: Hummingbird Ventures and Bitcoin Opportunity Fund (Series A) ($5,000,000), 2014-03; SBI Group (lead, Series B), 2016-02; 2,263 individual investors via a special-purpose vehicle ($13,500,000), 2019-06.

Incidents on record

  • 2021-09: CFTC settlement over margin trading ($1.25M). Kraken agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle CFTC claims that it had offered unregistered margin trading. Source
  • 2022-11: OFAC sanctions settlement ($362K). After self-reporting possible trades with customers in Iran, Kraken settled with the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, paying $362,000 and agreeing to invest a further $100,000 in sanctions compliance controls. Source
  • 2023-02-09: SEC staking-as-a-service settlement ($30M). The SEC charged Payward Ventures and Payward Trading (Kraken) with failing to register their staking-as-a-service program, which advertised returns of up to 21%. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Kraken agreed to stop offering the program to US clients and pay $30 million. Kraken later restarted a US staking program. Source
  • 2023-11: SEC lawsuit (dropped March 2025). The SEC sued Kraken, alleging it operated as an unregistered securities exchange and mixed customer assets with its own funds, which Kraken denied. The SEC agreed to drop the case in March 2025. Source
  • 2024-06-01: Service halted for Maine residents. Kraken halted services to Maine residents from June 1, 2024, and asked them to withdraw by April 12, 2025. Assets left after that date were treated as abandoned and escheated to the state of Maine. Source
  • 2024-08: Australian court fine over margin product (A$8M). After ASIC proceedings, Australia's Federal Court ordered Bit Trade, Kraken's Australian operator, to pay an A$8 million fine for issuing a credit facility to about 1,100 customers without meeting product rules. Source

The full "is Kraken legit?" check →

Where Kraken is available

RegionStatus
United StatesPartly available
United KingdomAvailable
European UnionAvailable

Kraken does not serve residents of New York or Maine. In other US states, Krak fiat transfers are unavailable in Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Utah, xStocks are not offered, and some rewards products are limited to select states. Older reviews also list Washington as excluded, but Kraken's current licensing page names only Maine and New York. In the UK, new retail accounts face a 24-hour cooling-off period before trading and retail clients cannot trade derivatives. EEA clients are served through MiCA-licensed Irish entities, with some assets (including USDT) restricted. Kraken does not serve Japan, Russia, Iran, North Korea and several other regions. (source)

We report what the venue's own terms say. Don't use a VPN to get around restrictions; venues can freeze accounts that do.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Kraken Pro entry-tier fees (0.40% maker, 0.80% taker) are lower than its 1% instant-buy fee, and drop to 0.00%/0.05% at the top tier.
  • Fee tiers can be reached by assets held on Kraken, not just trading volume.
  • Kraken publishes proof-of-reserves snapshots; the June 30, 2026 snapshot showed BTC at 102.9% and ETH at 100.5%.
  • Holds a Wyoming SPDI charter, a FinCEN MSB registration, MiCA licences in Ireland and FCA registration in the UK.
  • Crypto deposits have no limit, and standard verified accounts can move up to $100,000 a day in cash.

Cons

  • Not available to residents of New York or Maine.
  • Instant buys cost 1% (1.5% custom orders) plus a spread that Kraken does not publish as a fixed rate.
  • ACH Plaid purchases are held for seven days, and card or wallet purchases can be held for 72 hours, before withdrawal.
  • Settled with the SEC for $30 million over its US staking program in 2023, and with OFAC and the CFTC earlier.

Features

instant buy/sellrecurring buysKraken Pro maker/taker order bookmargin tradingfutures and perpetualsstakingstocks and ETFs (US)xStocks tokenized equities (outside US)Kraken+ subscriptionproof of reservesAPI tradingOTC deskmobile appdesktop app

Alternatives to Kraken

Binance

Traders outside the US, Canada, the Netherlands, the UK and the EU who want a large centralised exchange with low base spot and futures fees and a BNB fee discount.

0.2%Round trip

Bybit

Derivatives-focused traders outside the US, Canada and Singapore who want a large centralised exchange with perpetuals, options and copy trading.

0.2%Round trip

OKX

Traders outside the US who want a large centralised exchange with low base spot and futures fees, and US residents (except New York) who want spot trading through OKX US.

0.2%Round trip

Coinbase Advanced

Active traders in the US, UK or EU who want an order book with no spread and tiered fees, from the same account as regular Coinbase.

1.8%Round trip

All Kraken alternatives compared →

Head to head

Where Kraken ranks

Kraken FAQ

Is Kraken safe and legit?

Kraken was founded in 2011 and opened in 2013. It holds a Wyoming SPDI charter, a FinCEN MSB registration and MiCA licences, and publishes proof-of-reserves snapshots. It paid $30M to settle SEC staking charges in 2023, and an SEC exchange-registration suit was dropped in March 2025. Custodial balances carry platform risk.

What fees does Kraken charge?

Kraken Pro charges 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker at the entry tier, falling with 30-day volume or assets held. Instant buys, sells and converts in the Kraken app cost 1% (1.5% for custom orders) plus a spread and any payment-method fee. Kraken+ waives the 1% on up to $10,000 a month.

Is Kraken available in all US states?

No. Kraken does not serve residents of New York or Maine; Maine service stopped on June 1, 2024. Some features are limited elsewhere: Krak fiat transfers are unavailable in Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Utah, and xStocks are not offered in the US.

How long do Kraken withdrawals take to unlock?

ACH Plaid purchases carry a seven-day withdrawal hold, and card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal purchases may be held for 72 hours. Only the purchased amount is held and trading continues. After a password change, withdrawals to new addresses are held for up to 24 hours.

Does Kraken send 1099 tax forms?

Yes, to eligible US clients. From tax year 2025 Kraken reports sales on Form 1099-DA, adding cost basis for assets acquired from 2026. It issues Form 1099-MISC for $600 or more in staking, referral or airdrop income. Kraken Wallet and Ink activity are not on the 1099-DA.