Kraken-review
7
(our review)
Kraken, founded in 2011 and active in over 190 countries, is known for its many trading options and strong security. Investment Platforms Europe rates Kraken a 7. Our review tested both the standard dashboard and Kraken Pro. The first thing that surprised us a lot, was the differences in transaction fees.
Contents:
Please note: investing in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin involves risks. You may lose (some of) your deposit.
What defines Kraken?
Kraken is a large US-based crypto-only platform with over 15 million users. It has also a large marketshare in Europe, although we could not find any stats about specific countries.
It serves both small retail investors and professional traders. Kraken Pro is especially popular, as it offers many trading options and lower transaction fees. The platform also offers a strong Earn-program, for staking and lending.
European investors often compare Kraken with Bitvavo and Coinbase.
Ease of use
For new users, Kraken offers a simple dashboard, although we recommend to switch to Kraken Pro right away. The standard platform is easier to use, especially for new users, but charges higher fees. It is still a convenient way to get to know the platform, and creating an account is quick.
Both registration and verification were completed fast. Depositing funds was simple as well. We could even use iDEAL, a local Dutch payment solution that credited our deposit almost instantly. The entire process, from signing up and funding the account to buying the first crypto, took about ten minutes.
Our registration process was in English, but Kraken is also fully available in German, French, Spanish or Dutch.
The entire registration, including verification and transferring funds, took us only 10 minutes.
Kraken Pro offers a large selection
By default, Kraken has a simple dashboard where you can easily buy or sell coins with euros. With around 200 coins or tokens, the offer is very complete. You can also convert coins, meaning you exchange crypto for other coins, for example bitcoin for ethereum, without first converting to euros.
Experienced users usually work with Kraken Pro. Fees are lower here and there are more trading options (over 480 pairs), plus you get much more insight into price movements. However, because there is a lot more information on this dashboard, it can be overwhelming for less experienced users.
Because the simpler dashboard charges higher fees, We recommend Kraken mostly to experienced investors. If you are looking for a full exchange with an extensive order book, limit and stop orders, margin and futures, Kraken Pro is a strong platform.
Tokenized stocks
Kraken also offers stock tokens (xStocks). This lets you invest in shares of about 60 companies, such as Tesla or Apple. You can trade even when the stock market is closed and buy fractional shares.
The downside is that you do not own the actual stock. You have no voting rights and receive a compensation payment instead of regular dividends. You usually cannot reclaim or offset dividend withholding tax on this payment.
Auto Earn program
Kraken offers its own Auto Earn program where you allow crypto lending and staking solutions. In the standard dashboard you can give approval for your entire portfolio, so you do not need to manage it further. If you want to choose which coins to stake or exclude, Kraken Pro provides extra options.
Costs
Kraken has two platforms with different fees. On the standard Kraken dashboard, transaction fees are about 1 percent plus a spread that can reach another 1 percent. These costs are relatively high, so we usually recommend switching to Kraken Pro. However, with a Kraken+ subscription, you can even avoid transaction fees.
Kraken+
Kraken+ is a subscription (5 euro per month) for the standard Kraken dashboard. With it, you pay no transaction fees up to a limit of 20,000 dollar per month. It does not apply to Kraken Pro. If you find that exchange too complex and trade more than 500 euro per month, Kraken+ can lower your costs.
Costs Kraken Pro
The fees of Kraken Pro depend on your trading volume. At the lowest trading volumes you pay around 0.25 percent when buying and 0.40 percent when selling, with generally lower spreads. If your 30-day trading volume exceeds 10,000 dollar, fees drop to about 0.20 and 0.35 percent.
You can lower the fees with Kraken+ or Kraken Pro.
Reliability
Kraken is based in San Francisco and holds a European MiCAR license via Ireland and a MiFID II license via Cyprus, meeting all European crypto compliance rules. In 2024 it recorded about 665 billion dollar in trading volume, ranking among the world’s largest platforms.
The platform is known for strong security of stored crypto and user accounts. About 97 percent of client assets are kept in cold storage wallets at multiple global locations. No single person or system controls these wallets, making them inaccessible in case of a hack.
Review score: 7
In our review we rate Kraken a 7. It offers a reliable platform for trading or storing crypto safely. Kraken Pro provides lower transaction fees and many more trading options than the standard dashboard. A drawback of Pro is that this crypto exchange can be complex for new users.
This lowers our ease-of-use score. The standard Kraken option is simple, but its higher transaction fees are a disadvantage. For new investors we therefore recommend platforms like Bitvavo or Coinmerce.
Kraken Pro also offers features such as futures and margin trading, where you can lose money quickly if you are unfamiliar with these investment methods.
