Kraken cryptocurrency is a US-based cryptocurrency exchange, founded in 2011. The exchange provides cryptocurrency to fiat trading and provides price information to Bloomberg Terminal. Working on the lines of a stock exchange that facilitates stock trading, San Francisco-based Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange where market participants can trade the various cryptocurrencies. The participants are allowed to buy or sell the cryptocurrencies using various fiat currencies, which include U.S. dollars, Canadian dollars, euros, and the Japanese yen.
What Is Kraken
Kraken was established in the year 2011, and it formally launched the trading operations in 2013. It is owned by Payward Inc. and is headed by CEO and co-founder Jesse Powell. It provides the easy movement of money to and from the linked bank accounts of the participant, and the movement of cryptocoins to and from the participant’s digital wallets from Kraken-linked trading accounts.
Powell started Kraken cryptocurrency in the aftermath of the hack of the Mt. Gox exchange, after having helped the now-defunct exchange with its early problems. These shortcomings are what motivated Powell to build a more robust exchange.
Kraken the company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, Kraken operates worldwide with most of its activity in Europe. In 2013, in an effort to offer Kraken’s European customers regulated crypto trading services, the company partnered with Germany-based Fidor Bank, whose goal was also to bring emerging and innovative markets to its customers.
In 2014, Kraken launched their cryptocurrency trading platform in Japan, but closed this service down in 2018, citing operations costs. In 2015, Kraken announced a partnership with Canadian digital currency risk-management specialist company Vogogo and, as a result, launched its trading platform in Canada.
| Exchange | Details |
|---|---|
| Exchange Name | Kraken |
| Exchange Type | Cryptocurrency |
| Coins Support | N/A |
| Trading Pairs | N/A |
| Website | https://www.kraken.com/ |
| https://www.kraken.com/redirect?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fkrakenfx | |
| https://www.kraken.com/redirect url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FKrakenFX%2F | |
| Alexa Rank | 5774 |
| Top Country | India |
How To Sign Up & Start Trading
Kraken Hosting Details
- Datacenter: Cloudflare, Inc.
- Server IP: 104.16.213.191
- Location: United States of America
- City: Newark
- Domain Who Is: Click Here
- Nameservers: kim.ns.cloudflare.com, art.ns.cloudflare.com
Enable 2-Factor Authentication (2FA)
When you log certain the primary time, a pop-up will show up and ask you to enable the 2FA, which can help in increasing your account security. If you’re new 2FA, you’ll got to download the Google Authenticator app then scan the QR (or enter the key key) so as to urge a 1-minute changing code.
After completing these three steps, you’re through with fixing your account.
Kraken Trading fees
Kraken’s trading fees for takers are 0.26%. This fee is ever so slightly above the industry average. The industry average is arguably around 0.25%.
However, the exchange offers a discount to makers, thus promoting the liquidity at the exchange. The maker fee is set at 0.16%. This is a strong competitive edge in the market and is especially beneficial for the investors not interested in picking up existing orders from the order book but rather prefers to “go fishing” with maker-orders.
Cryptocurrency withdrawal fees and minimums
There is a minimum requirement for each withdrawal, along with a flat fee to cover the transaction costs of moving the cryptocurrency out of your Kraken account. Below is a summary of the minimums and fees.
| Cryptocurrency | Withdrawal fee | Withdrawal minimum (after fees) |
| Algorand | 0.01 ALGO | 1 ALGO |
| Augur | 0.01 REP | 0.05 REP |
| Basic Attention Token | 4 BAT | 10 BAT |
| Bitcoin | 0.0005 XBT | 0.005 XBT |
| Bitcoin Cash | 0.0001 BCH | 0.001 BCH |
| Cardano | 0.6 ADA | 1 ADA |
| Chainlink | 0.12 LINK | 1.4 LINK |
| Compound | 0.01 COMP | 0.025 COMP |
| Cosmos | 0.1 ATOM | 1 ATOM |
| Dash (normal send) | 0.005 DASH | 0.01 DASH |
| Dash (instant send) | 0.01 DASH | 0.05 DASH |
| Dai | 0.5 DAI | 1 DAI |
| Dogecoin | 2 XDG | 50 XDG |
| EOS | 0.05 EOS | 0.5 EOS |
| Ether | 0.005 ETH | 0.01 ETH |
| Ether Classic | 0.005 ETC | 0.01 ETC |
| Gnosis | 0.005 GNO | 0.01 GNO |
| ICON | 0.02 ICX | 0.03 ICX |
| Lisk | 0.3 LSK | 1 LSK |
| Litecoin | 0.001 LTC | 0.01 LTC |
| Kava | 0.1 KAVA | 1 KAVA |
| Kyber Network | 1 KNC | 5 KNC |
| Monero | 0.0001 XMR | 0.01 XMR |
| Nano | 0.05 NANO | 0.1 NANO |
| OmiseGO | 0.7 OMG | 1 OMG |
| Orchid | 3 OXT | 10 OXT |
| PAX Gold | 0.0025 PAXG + 0.02% to Paxos† | 0.005 PAXG |
| Qtum | 0.01 QTUM | 0.1 QTUM |
| Ripple | 0.02 XRP | 25 XRP |
| Siacoin | 1 SC | 2 SC |
| Stellar Lumens | 0.00002 XLM | 25 XLM |
| Storj | 6 STORJ | 10 STORJ |
| Tether USD (OMNI) | 5 USDT | 10 USDT |
| Tether USD (ERC20) | 0.5 USDT | 1 USDT |
| Tezos | 0.2 XTZ | 0.1 XTZ |
| Tron | 0.01 TRX | 2 TRX |
| USD Coin | 0.5 USDC | 1 USDC |
| Watermelon | 0.003 MLN | 0.1 MLN |
| Waves | 0.02 WAVES | 0.1 WAVES |
| Zcash | 0.0001 ZEC | 0.0005 ZEC |
Deposit Methods
Kraken offers wire transfer as a deposit method, but you can’t deposit via credit card. This of course negative news to you if you would prefer to use your credit card for any reason. However, as the exchange accepts deposit of fiat currencies at all, it distinguishes itself from many other exchanges that only allows deposits in crypto.
One option you when it comes to the deposits is to deposit (and withdraw) USD, EUR, CAD, GBP and JPY through Etana Custody (and CHF through Bank Frick in Liechtenstein). Etana offers currency conversion for a wide range of fiat currencies. Users of the Kraken platform can wire transfer almost any fiat currency to their Etana Custody wallet, and then exchange that into one of the five major fiat currencies that the Kraken platform supports, in order to fund their respective Kraken accounts.
As of 12 November 2019, you can also deposit and withdraw EUR via SEPA-transfers. Kraken’s cooperation with Liechtenstein-based Bank Frick makes this possible. The SEPA-deposit fees are EUR 0.15 and the SEPA-withdrawal fees are EUR 1.00 (so next to nothing, really).
Kraken is the most trusted cryptocurrency exchange on the market.
Trade with confidence. Earning the trust of the clients has always been our highest priority. We earn that trust through the best security in the business — most of our digital assets are held safely in cold wallets so bad actors can’t reach it. The platform provides world class financial stability by maintaining full reserves, healthy banking relationships and the highest standards of legal compliance.
What we do
Empowering investors
Whether you’re an advanced trader or a crypto-beginner, Kraken gives you the power to chart your own financial course. Our exchange has an ever-growing number of cryptocurrency pairs for you to invest in and a slew of tools and features for you to leverage as you grow your portfolio.
Supporting institutions
From over-the-counter trading to personalized white-glove account management, Kraken is the premier cryptocurrency investing solution for institutions of all sizes. We offer exceptional liquidity and competitive pricing for all our markets so you can achieve your investment goals quickly and confidently.
Global 24/7/365 support.
We pair our global 24/7/365 live chat with an extensive Support Center to help ensure your questions are answered and your needs are met around the clock — no matter who or where you are.
Join the revolution
Since Satoshi first mined Bitcoin’s genesis block in 2009, crypto has been changing the world – and the Kraken team is leading the charge. We’re looking for talented, inspiring people who are passionate about bringing cryptocurrency to the mainstream. If you’re interested in joining Kraken, click the link below to learn more about all of our open job listings.