That’s the only Kraken review you need. Read this detailed analysis of Kraken.com exchange and find out all the important facts. Do it now.
I’ve put together all of the details, such as fees, security features, user reviews, and everything there’s to know about its trading platform. In short, I did my best to bring you the most comprehensive Kraken review.
Plus, this comprehensive review shares with you an affordable cybersecurity device. This device can be used to secure Kraken, Gmail, and many other online accounts. It’s described in Kraken security features section.
Disclosure: this page has affiliate links that may make me money. But the content is objective and trustworthy.
Very Important: Last Update Of This Kraken Bitcoin Exchange Review
Kraken had much better service in the last few years. January 2018 system update improved a few important things. Plus, 2019 redesign gave the user interface a much better look. Likewise, the changes that happened in 2020 and 2021 made Kraken a better exchange. As a result, EUR SEPA transfer deposits and USD wire transfer deposits became free.
Comprehensive Kraken Exchange Review: Introduction + Tip For Lower Fee
Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges. While it had its share of problems, the updates mentioned above solved them. Furthermore, Kraken has become the first US-based crypto exchange to win bank charter approval. In other words, Kraken is the only US-based crypto exchange that’s also a bank.
CER.live rated Kraken as one of the two most secure cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. It earned a perfect score of 10 out of 10. CER.live rated more than three hundred cryptocurrency exchanges as of 2021. Only two of them received a perfect score.
Likewise, according to CER.live, Kraken is one of the top two crypto exchanges in terms of solvency. It has funds insurance and many billions in assets. In short, Kraken exchange provides excellent security for assets and has enough funds to withstand any crypto market turmoil.
Furthermore, Kraken is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, ways to buy bitcoin or any other major cryptocurrency. If you’re in the USA, you can buy bitcoin for only 0.26% of the total value of your order. That’s the trading fee.
Be careful not to use “Buy Crypto” link in Kraken menu because then you’ll be charged a 1.5% instant Buy fee. Instead, use “Trade” link in Kraken menu to place a buy order. The downside is that first you’ll have to make a deposit. So you may end up waiting for about one business day before being able to use “Trade” link to place a buy order, whereas “Buy Crypto” link allows you to make an instant ACH purchase.
For all of the above reasons, Kraken is a crypto exchange worth using.
Feel free to continue reading this Kraken exchange review to find out the details or click here to create a Kraken.com account right now.
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Is Kraken Trustworthy?
Kraken is definitely trustworthy. As a matter of fact, it’s likely the most trustworthy cryptocurrency exchange in the whole world. Its founder and its history are the two reasons you can trust Kraken Digital Asset Exchange.
Is Kraken Founder & CEO Jesse Powell Trustworthy?
Jesse Powell, a 15-year veteran of the virtual currency industry, founded this exchange in 2011. Before founding Kraken crypto exchange, Jesse Powell worked as a co-founder and CEO of Lewt, Inc., a gaming-centric company.
That gaming-centric company offered services for virtual worlds and MMORPG games. Virtual currencies were a part of these services. In short, Jesse Powell has a rich history of virtual currency work. He’s been in this sphere before Bitcoin was founded in 2009.
Furthermore, Bloomberg interviewed Jesse Powell in 2020, adding more legitimacy and clout to his persona. Please watch this interview video right now because it’s best to know the CEO of a company you’re dealing with.
Does Kraken History Show That It’s Trustworthy?
In September 2013, Kraken launched after two years of testing and development. In short, Kraken is more than ten years old and has been doing business for more than eight years. In the crypto industry, that’s a long period of time, as Bitcoin itself is less than twenty years old. During all of these years, Kraken crypto exchange was never hacked.
Not only is Kraken old, it’s also among the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in terms of its trading volumes. Among all of the bitcoin exchanges in the world, Kraken has the biggest Euro market share. Needless to say, it’s very popular in the European Union. It’s also very popular in the USA. That popularity makes Kraken the fourth top cryptocurrency exchange by volume according to CoinMarketCap 2021 data. Thus, more than seven million people use Kraken.
The quality of Kraken partner companies is also excellent. Kraken received more than one hundred million dollars in funding from many legitimate venture capital firms such as Tribe Capital. Plus, Kraken provides price information to Bloomberg Terminal. This points to the reliability of Kraken trading data and is good news for any crypto trader.
Is Kraken Trustworthy? Here’s The Conclusion.
Kraken bitcoin and ethereum exchange is a legitimate and trustworthy business entity with experienced founder and good history.
Kraken Review: Kraken Fees Explained
That’s one of the two ways in which Kraken succeeds and the second reason to use it. Kraken fees are among the lowest in bitcoin business. They’re especially low among exchanges that offer fiat trading, though they’re not the lowest. Below I explain them in detail.
Kraken Trading Fees
| 30-Day Volume | Maker | Taker |
|---|---|---|
| $0 - $50,000 | 0.16% | 0.26% |
| $50,001 - $100,000 | 0.14% | 0.24% |
| $100,001 - $250,000 | 0.12% | 0.22% |
| $250,001 - $500,000 | 0.10% | 0.20% |
| $500,001 - $1,000,000 | 0.08% | 0.18% |
| $1,000,001 - $2,500,000 | 0.06% | 0.16% |
| $2,500,001 - $5,000,000 | 0.04% | 0.14% |
| $5,000,001 - $10,000,000 | 0.02% | 0.12% |
| $10,000,000+ | 0.00% | 0.10% |
Every time you exchange your fiat money for bitcoin or other cryptocurrency you’ll be paying one of these fees. The higher the volume of your trades the less the fee will be.
This fee changes every 30 days in accordance with the volume of your trades. In short, Kraken trading fees are really low if you intend to trade large volumes.
Kraken Review: Deposit Fees For Cryptocurrencies
They’re likewise reasonable. Deposits of many cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, bitcoin cash, monero, stellar, ripple, dogecoin, litecoin, and dash are free.
Deposits of ethereum and ethereum classic are not free. They carry small transaction fees. Deposits of gnosis, iconomi, augur, melonport, and EOS are likewise not free. They carry address setup fees.
Also, keep in mind that the cryptocurrency network of your choice will likely charge you a small fee.
Kraken Deposit Fees For Fiat Money
Many types of fiat money deposits are free. These include CAD wire deposits, JPY domestic deposits, and EUR SEPA transfer deposits. USD wire transfer deposits are also free. In short, Kraken deposit fees are for the most part free.
Kraken Withdrawal Fees For Fiat Money
They’re reasonable. USD domestic withdrawal by wire transfer, available to US residents, costs only four dollars. EUR SEPA withdrawal, available to Europe’s residents, costs only nine euro cents. Canadians, on the other hand, aren’t that lucky, as the CAD domestic EFT bank transfer withdrawal costs a 0.25% fee.
Fees Conclusion
Kraken fees are one of the reasons you may want to use this exchange because they’re either free or cheap.
Is Kraken Safe?
Some experts say that Kraken is the safest exchange for storing cryptocurrency. So is Kraken safe or did Kraken pay off those experts?
No, Kraken didn’t pay them off. It’s indeed the safest cryptocurrency exchange. Security is the second way in which Kraken succeeds. It’s also the third reason to use it.
Kraken stores most of its users’ cryptocurrency in cold wallets. These wallets are completely isolated from online systems. So even if Kraken was hacked, funds in cold wallets would be safe.
A small amount of cryptocurrency is stored in semi-cold wallets and hot wallets. Though these wallets are encrypted, they can be hacked by determined and well-funded groups.
That’s why I recommend you to store cryptocurrency in a hardware wallet. They’re much more secure than any exchange wallet. Plus, they’re recommended by cryptocurrency experts. So if you don’t have one, please check out the best hardware wallet right now. Please see how affordable it is right now.
Please keep in mind that some third party sellers have been selling pre-configured scam wallets. After a while, they took people’s cryptocurrency out of them. So you should buy only from the manufacturer. So please visit and bookmark this link right now because it’s the official manufacturer website.
Has Kraken Been Hacked?
Though Kraken itself was never hacked, several Kraken accounts were hacked all at once. Kraken said that they were likely hacked because two-factor authentication wasn’t enabled on them.
Also, it seems that the account holders could’ve avoided that if they had global settings lock enabled. This security feature is explained below.
Kraken Review: Security Features
Kraken has many excellent security features. Two of the best ones are two-factor authentication and global settings lock. Combined together, these two features provide you with outstanding level of security. Another, less useful security feature is master key. Below I explain them all in detail.
Two-Factor Authentication
You can set up two-factor authentication on Kraken via either Yubikey device or Google Authenticator app. Kraken two-factor authentication via Yubikey device is more secure because it’s not vulnerable to software attacks.
Plus, a Yubikey device is phishing-resistant. In fact, technology of its manufacturer, Yubico, is so good that even Google employees use these devices. Other major corporations use Yubico products too. In short, Yubico manufactures outstanding cybersecurity devices.
You can use these devices on Gmail and other online accounts. Plus, they’re affordable. So you can buy two to avoid problems with 2FA reset. Many people who lost phones with Google Authenticator app had problems with that. So please buy two Yubico devices now to avoid these problems.
Kraken Review: Global Settings Lock
Though you can set up global settings lock easily, it can make your account much more secure. This feature hides sensitive information from anyone logged into your account, yourself included. It also prevents anyone logged into your account from changing that information. So no one would be able to change withdrawal addresses quickly when this feature is enabled.
If you or someone else tries to unlock your account locked with global settings lock, Kraken will send you an email. This email would tell you the number of days after which your account becomes unlocked. When setting up this feature, you can specify the number of days or create master key.
Master Key
it’s a password that allows you to override global settings lock. It also allows you to get a temporary code for bypassing two-factor authentication. So Kraken master key can allow you to log in into your account in case you lost access to your device with two-factor authentication.
While this can be useful, master key can be dangerous. When enabled, it has enormous power over your account. However, Kraken claims that master key makes password reset more secure, because when enabled it’s required to reset password.
In short, unlike two-factor authentication and global settings lock, master key has a significant disadvantage. In some cases, this disadvantage can outweigh its advantages.
Security Conclusion
Not only does Kraken have excellent security features, but independent audits show the strength of its security. That’s why CER.live rated Kraken as one of the two most secure cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, giving it a perfect score. For these reasons, I give Kraken’s security two thumbs up.
Conclusion Of This Kraken Review
Kraken is definitely an excellent crypto exchange. Its very robust security, low fees, good and long history, as well as an experienced founder with significant business experience are the reasons it’s worth using. Please sign up for it right now.
Related Links
- Wikipedia: Kraken Company
- Decrypt: Kraken Will Be First US Crypto Bank
- CER.live: Crypto Exchange Ranks
- Forbes Advisor Review
- Kraken.com: Fee Schedule
- Kraken.com: Deposit Fees
- Kraken.com: Withdrawal Fees
- ForexBrokerz.com Review
- Cointelegraph: Enable 2FA: Kraken Accounts Compromised, Funds Stolen
- Kraken.com: Security Practices
- Kraken.com: Master Key Guide
- Kraken.com: Guide On How To Withdraw Fiat Currencies
- Kraken.com: Guide On How To Withdraw Digital Currency
- Kraken.com: Verification Time
- CoinMarketCap: Kraken trade volume and market listings
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