What is Kraken
Founded in 2011, Kraken is the largest Bitcoin exchange in terms of euro volume, and is also a partner in the first cryptocurrency bank. Kraken allows you to buy and sell cryptocurrencies and trade between bitcoins and euros, american or canadian dollars, british pounds and japanese yen. It also enables trading with other cryptocurrencies, not just bitcoin, such as: Ethereum, Monero, Ethereum Classic, Augur Rep, ICONOMI, Zcash, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Ripple and Stellar. For more experienced users, Kraken offers margin trading and other trading options. That makes Kraken excellent choice for experienced traders. Read on this Kraken review to find out what is Kraken and how safe is Kraken.
- Sign up – Kraken
- Deposits and Withdrawals
- Buy and sell cryptocurrencies – BTC, ETH, altcoins
- Fees
- Kraken review – Characteristics
- FAQ answered by cryptoElvis
- Kraken review – Pros and Cons
- Kraken review – Summary
Sign up – Kraken
When registering a new account, the client must fill out a username, password, and email to which he or she will receive a confirmation link immediately.
Once the account is created, it is necessary to verify the account. If you do not use traditional currencies but only cryptocurrencies, just fill in your name, date of birth and phone. If you want to use traditional fiat currencies (for deposits and withdrawals) to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, you must also fill in your home address. The next level of verification is to provide copies of personal documents (copies of ID cards and electricity invoices). You only need to take this step if you want to increase daily/monthly deposit and withdrawal limits from $2,000/$10,000 to $25,000/$200,000.
Before you send money to your account, you should activate two-step authentication on the Security tab. It’s actually another password. Without using it, the transactions, withdrawals etc. can not be made. You can either set up your password yourself, or it’s generated by a mobile app that you link to your account. For maximum security, Kraken stores most of the client assets in offline wallets and storage. However, it is safer if you do not leave the cryptocurrency in your account and you rather save it in your own virtual wallet that only you have access to.
Deposits and Withdrawals
Kraken charges transaction fees for deposits and withdrawals by wire transfer. For a classic euro bank transfer you pay 5 euro per deposit and 60 euro per withdrawal. For SEPA wire transfers, the deposit is free of charge and the withdrawal fee is only 0.09 euro. Deposits and withdrawals of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies via virtual wallets are free of charge. The minimum deposit and withdrawal amount depends on the method you choose, but usually only a few units or tens of euros. Domestic US deposits and withdrawals cost $5. All the other detail on domestic US deposits and withdrawals you will find at the official website.
Buy and sell cryptocurrencies – BTC, ETH, altcoins
You can buy and sell cryptocurrencies after logging into your account and clicking on the Trade tab. As a Bitcoin exchange, Kraken distinguishes two basic types of orders: Limit and Market. For the Market order, you select only the amount (Amount) and the cryptocurrency you want to buy or sell. The order is executed immediately after sending for the best quote available. Order Limit is an offer to buy or sell a cryptocurrency, which is sent to the orderbook of the cryptocurrency exchange and is waiting for it to be realized. For this order, the client also selects the exchange rate to be filled out at.
When trading, you can use Leverage, set the start time for the order, or set expiration for the order. These features are available when you click on Advanced button. Clients also have access to a professional platform with a chart that includes a variety of analytical and graphical tools.
By using the Kraken dark pool you enter the anonymous orders that do not appear in the public list. This service is primarily for large orders that can reach a better cryptocurrency exchange rates. Currency pairs traded under the dark pool are denoted by the letter d (eg XBT / EUR.d). There is also an API interface for creating automated trading programs.
Fees
The basic fee is 0.16% for limit orders and 0.26% for market orders. However, the amount of the fees is determined by how much money you have traded in the previous 30 days. For example, if the client trades at least $ 50,000 in 30 days, he will reduce his fees by 0.02%. The lowest fees can be 0% (Limit) and 0.1% (Market). However, only those clients who trade more than 10,000,000 dollars in 30 days can get these fees. Different charges are only for Tether (USDTUSD), where you pay 0.2% of the transaction (up to 0% after reduction).
Kraken review – Characteristics
| Name | Kraken (Bitcoin exchange) |
| Operator | Payward Inc. (USA) |
| Year of Establishment | 2011 (USA) |
| Newbie friendly | No |
| Fiat currencies | EUR, USD, JPY, CAD |
| Cryptocurrencies | Bitcoin (XBT), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Monero (XMR), Dash (DASH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), Lumens (XLM), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Augur (REP), ICONOMI (ICN), Melon (MLN), Zcash (ZEC), Dogecoin (XDG), Tether (USDT), Gnosis (GNO), EOS (EOS) |
| Deposits/Withdrawals | Bank transfer, SEPA (fiat currencies), virtual wallets (cryptocurrencies) |
| Minimum deposit/withdrawal | Yes (depends on the method you choose, usually units up to tens of euros) |
| Required personal documents | Optional (only to increase the limits) |
| Trading orders | Limit, market |
| Min. transaction | about 15 USD |
| Security (How safe is Kraken) | 2 FA |
| Additional benefits | API interface, mobile apps, leverage trading (up to 1:5) |
FAQ answered
How safe is Kraken?
For maximum security, Kraken stores most of the client assets in offline wallets and storage. However, it is safer if you do not leave the cryptocurrency in your account and you rather save it in your own virtual wallet that only you have access to.
Can I store my Bitcoins at Kraken Exchange?
Yes, Kraken is a Bitcoin Exchange that stores cryptocurrencies for their clients. However, it is safer to withdraw your coins as soon as you buy them.
Can I open an account at Kraken in my residence country?
Kraken provides their services globally, with some exceptions. If you are from a country that is not eligible for the Kraken Stock Exchange services, you will most likely see in your account “pre-verified” status.
What about Kraken support?
Sometimes they have problems with answering the e-mails and question from clients. For basic questions you can visit their support pages here.
How much time does verification process take?
The basic verification (Tier 1 and Tier 2) takes just a few moment. Tier 3 takes few days in case there are not much ongoing applications.
How Fast can I buy Cryptocurrencies via Kraken Bitcoin exchange?
It depends on whether you send your money in fiat currencies (EUR, USD..) or cryptocurrencies. In case you send fiat currencies, it takes about 2 days to have your funds ready on your account. Making a deposit of cryptocurrencies is much faster. It lasts few minutes. After that, you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies in a minute.
Kraken review – Pros and Cons
Advantages: Bitcoin exchange with good reputation, reasonable rates, low fees, minimum deposit fees, developed and reliable user support, high security, worldwide availability.
Disadvantages: Limited payment options, unsuitable for beginners, no user-friendly interface
Kraken review – Summary
If you want to sign up for an account at Kraken to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, consider what is Kraken and how safe is Kraken. It’s no coincidence that Kraken is one of the largest bitcoin exchanges in the world. This Bitcoin exchange has hundreds of thousands of users, supports a large number of cryptocurrencies, charges reasonable fees and high-quality security. Their competitors have lost tens or even hundreds of thousands of bitcoins due to hacker attacks (see Bitfinex or MtGox). There are some information on the Internet regarding robbed clients, but according to the Exchange’s statement, there were only a few accounts whose owners did not activate two-phase authentication or other security features.
There are dozens of reviews on the internet that the Kraken Exchange evaluates predominantly positively. Yet, there are complaints and negative reviews. Users in online discussions are critical of slow withdrawals and deposits, poor customer support which does not respond to some clients at all, or poor platform performance in a larger onslaught that makes it impossible to quickly enter and execute orders. The platform also lacks Stop Limit, Stop Loss orders.
We hope that our Kraken review helped you to learn what is Kraken and whether this Bitcoin exchange is suitable for you. Please, check out the other reviews CryptoElvis has prepared for you:
