Kraken Overview

Kraken was launched in 2011 in San Francisco. It now has offices across the globe and supports customers in most parts of the world. It also has more than six million users. The site has various services that appeal to both individual and institutional grade investors.

One of the best aspects of the Kraken platform is its separation between Kraken Pro and the main Kraken service.

The main Kraken platform is ideal for new investors or those who are looking for a simple way to make straightforward cryptocurrency investments. On the other hand, Kraken Pro is a better fit for more advanced investors who are looking for things like margin and futures trading.

Both platforms offer a wide variety of cryptocurrency assets to choose from and useful features like staking.

Kraken could be your ideal exchange. Or it could be a poor fit. The answer will depend on your preferences and what you’re hoping to achieve with your cryptocurrency investment journey.

We’ve put together this Kraken review to help you figure out whether this exchange is right for you. Keep reading to get the information you need to make that decision.

Is it safe to buy on Kraken?

It’s absolutely safe to buy cryptocurrency assets on Kraken. Though the platform is a frequent target of hackers, none have actually succeeded in breaching the company’s wallets.

That being said, individual users have been hacked on Kraken. But this is true of every cryptocurrency exchange. Users who don’t take their account security seriously always risk losing their assets.

That’s why it’s essential always to use things like two-factor authentication, which significantly increase the security of your accounts.

Fees

Kraken’s fees vary based on the platform you’re using and the type of purchase that you make.

Fees on the standard Kraken platform range from 0.5% to over 3.75% based on how you’re funding the purchase. Instant purchases carry a fee of 1.5% for most tokens and 0.9% for stablecoins.

But you can bring down your fees significantly by conducting your transactions on Kraken Pro instead. The highest fees on this platform are 0.16% for makers and 0.26% for takers.

Your fees on Kraken Pro will go down the higher your 30-day trading volume is. Once you reach $10 million in 30-day volume, your maker fees are entirely free, and your taker fees are just 0.1%.

Features

• More than 110 cryptocurrencies to invest in
• Options for both beginning and advanced users
• High liquidity levels
• Margin and futures trading available for users in some countries
• Provides access to staking
• 24-hour support via live chat, phone, and email

To put these features into perspective, they align with what most other major exchanges offer both in terms of the number of cryptocurrencies available and add-on features.

However, Kraken’s commitment to customer service is exemplary. The platform’s 24-hour support via multiple channels stands out. Many of its competitors don’t even offer phone support – let alone 24-hour access to customer service from real humans.

That means if you’re interested in finding a cryptocurrency exchange that has top-notch customer service, Kraken could be exactly what you want.

Do they offer a wallet?

Kraken has a digital wallet where users can store their funds and tokens after making a purchase on the platform. But it doesn’t have a personal wallet service.

This means that any assets you purchase on Kraken can only be used within the site. For example, you can’t buy Ethereum on Kraken and then stake it on Lido directly from the website.

Instead, you’ll need to transfer your assets from Kraken to a third-party wallet like MetaMask to access web 3.0 apps.

Mobile app

Kraken also offers mobile apps on both the Google Play and Apple stores. It has two different apps – a standard Kraken app and a Kraken Pro app. This means you can access the same version of Kraken on your mobile device that you use online – regardless of whether you’re a beginner or a more advanced trader.

This is great news since it ensures you’re able to invest however you want to invest on Kraken even when you’re on the go. It also means that you won’t have to pay higher fees or anything like that just to access your account on a mobile device.

Are there any downsides to Kraken?

We’ve covered mostly the positives up until now. But no cryptocurrency exchange is entirely perfect. So it’s also important for us to discuss some of the potential downsides of using Kraken.

The good news is, there are only really two that you should be aware of – and neither is very serious.

First, fees are much higher on the standard Kraken platform than they are on Kraken Pro. That means you either need to get comfortable with more advanced trading features or pay a higher transaction fee for every trade you make on the platform.

Additionally, you can’t access margin trading on Kraken if you live in the United States. But that’s true of all cryptocurrency platforms that operate in the USA because of legal requirements.

Compare Kraken before you invest

Kraken is one of the oldest and most reliable cryptocurrency exchanges in existence today. It offers a wide variety of assets, has high levels of liquidity, and even offers things like staking, margin trading, and highly-rated mobile apps to users who want them.

But even with all of these features, you shouldn’t automatically assume that Kraken is right for you. There could be another cryptocurrency exchange out there that offers features that are an even better fit for your goals.

That’s why we’ve created our comparison tool. It makes it incredibly easy to compare and contrast each of the cryptocurrency investment platforms that you’re considering using.

So why wait? Compare crypto exchanges today to get the information you need to figure out whether Kraken is right for you.