Kraken — a review of the crypto exchange, its fees, safety and risks

How Kraken works

Kraken is a centralized exchange (CEX in English), which means a company matches buyers with sellers and keeps customers' crypto itself. Think of a left-luggage office: you hand in a bag and get a ticket, the bag stays yours, yet only the staff can hand it back, when you ask. On Kraken you see a balance in your account. The crypto itself sits on the exchange's addresses, its "accounts" on the network, and the exchange holds the keys to those addresses, the secret codes that approve transfers. Why the key decides who controls the crypto is explained in the article what is a private key.

Kraken asks for an identity check before your first deposit and first trade, and your withdrawal limits for ordinary money depend on its level. Some features also depend on the country you live in, for example staking (income for crypto you lock up as a deposit) and complex trading products called derivatives².

Kraken offers two ways to trade. In the Kraken app you buy, sell or exchange one cryptocurrency for another in a couple of taps, at the rate the exchange quotes. In Kraken Pro you work with a list of orders, and the exchange matches people who want to buy with people who want to sell³. The difference is like that between a currency exchange office and a market. At the exchange office the counter sets the rate; at a market you decide what price to pay and wait for a seller to turn up.

1. founded in 2011 Kraken Blog, «About» blog.kraken.com ↩
2. identity check for funding and trading Kraken Support, «Verification explained» support.kraken.com ↩
3. the app and Kraken Pro Kraken, «Kraken vs. Kraken Pro: Features and fees, explained» kraken.com ↩
4. networks for USDT Kraken Support, «Cryptocurrencies available on Kraken» support.kraken.com ↩
5. USDT delisted for EEA customers Kraken Support, «Stablecoins Supported on Kraken» support.kraken.com ↩
6. proof of reserves published since 2014 Kraken Blog, «Kraken releases December 2025 Proof of Reserves, continuing our commitment to trust through transparency» blog.kraken.com ↩
7. licenses; countries Kraken does not serve Kraken Support, «Where is Kraken licensed or regulated?» support.kraken.com ↩

Kraken fees layer by layer

There is no single "Kraken fee". What you pay depends on how you trade, how you fund your account and which network you withdraw to.

How fees in the Kraken app differ from Kraken Pro

In the app, buying, selling and swapping cost a fixed percentage, which may include a spread⁴. A spread is the gap between the buying price and the selling price, as at an exchange office that sells dollars for more than it buys them. In Kraken Pro the rate depends on whether you are a maker or a taker and on how much you traded over 30 days. A taker buys at once at a price already in the list of orders; a maker places an order of their own and waits for someone to accept it. Purchases in the app do not count toward the volume for a discount. An order cancelled before it is filled costs nothing³. The rates change.

For a crypto withdrawal Kraken charges a fee that depends on the network you choose, and it shows the fee on the withdrawal page once you have picked the network⁵. The ways to deposit ordinary money, and what they cost, depend on the currency and the country.

USDT on Kraken, its networks and the limits for EEA customers

USDT is a stablecoin from the company Tether, in other words a blockchain-based digital dollar. It exists on different networks. A network is the shared system where transfers are recorded, and each network has its own addresses and its own fee. Kraken supports USDT on many networks, for example Tron (the TRC-20 standard) and Ethereum (the ERC-20 standard)⁶. A token standard is the set of rules under which a token is issued on a network; the article token standards has more on them. The exchange adds and removes networks.

Deposit USDT on the same network you chose when you got your deposit address deposit address on Kraken, or you may lose the crypto⁷. A deposit sent on an unsupported network is something the exchange most likely cannot recover⁸.

People who live in the European Economic Area (EEA), meaning the EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, cannot get USDT on Kraken. The exchange delisted it for these customers, and other stablecoins are available to them⁷ ⚖️. Why USDT is leaving EU exchanges is explained in the USDT profile.

How to withdraw USDT from Kraken without a network mistake

First ask the recipient which network they expect the USDT on and what the address on that network is. A receiving exchange shows both on its deposit page. Then follow these steps⁹:

1. Open Portfolio, tap Withdraw and choose USDT.
2. Choose the network that the recipient's wallet or exchange uses.
3. Pick a saved address or add a new one. Give a new address a clear name and paste the whole address after copying it. If you signed in from a device you have not confirmed before, Kraken emails you a confirmation link, which works for one hour¹⁰.
4. Enter an amount no lower than the minimum for that network.
5. Check the network and the address once more.
6. If you turned on a second code for withdrawals (two-factor protection for withdrawals), enter it. This is a separate code and differs from the one you use to sign in.
7. Start with a small test amount and wait until the recipient sees it. Send the rest after that.

A withdrawal to an incompatible network can mean losing the crypto for good. The trap is that addresses for different cryptocurrencies and networks can look the same, so the form accepts the address even though the network is wrong¹⁰. Picture two buildings on neighboring streets with the same apartment numbers: the number is right, and the parcel still goes to the other building. The guide how to send USDT explains how to pick the network for USDT. The exchange reports outages and withdrawal delays on its status page.

Where Kraken works and where it does not

Kraken does not serve residents of Russia, Belarus and a number of other countries under sanctions and restrictions ⚖️¹¹¹². The restriction depends on where a person lives or is located. Signing up with someone else's details, or from another country, to get access breaks the exchange's terms. See the full list of countries in Kraken's help section.

Does Kraken work in Latin America?

In Argentina, Kraken is registered with the securities regulator (CNV) ⚖️¹². Residents of Brazil are covered by separate terms of service ⚖️¹¹. As of 30.10.2026, Kraken's licenses page lists no licenses in Brazil or Mexico ⚖️. Kraken's terms name Cuba among the sanctioned countries. The rules for exchanges in Argentina and Brazil, and where to check a registration, are on the pages cryptocurrency in Argentina and cryptocurrency in Brazil ⚖️.

Kraken reliability, from reserves and licenses to its history with the US regulator

Kraken published its first proof of reserves proof of reserves in 2014 and has committed to releasing one every quarter. It is a report on whether the exchange has enough crypto to cover what it keeps for customers. An independent accounting firm, which the exchange does not name, confirms that Kraken's addresses hold more crypto than customer accounts¹³. You can find your own balance in the check through Kraken Pro, under Account → Proof of Reserves, with the Verify yourself button. The report is built as a long list with subtotals, a structure called a Merkle tree. From your own line and a few subtotals you confirm that you were counted, without seeing anyone else's lines. The report covers a single day and does not show the exchange's debts. It does not prove that only the exchange has the keys to its addresses, and after the check date crypto could be stolen or keys could be lost¹⁴. The exchange itself shows the date of the latest check and the list of assets covered.

Companies in the Kraken group hold licenses and registrations in the US, the UK, the EU, Canada, Australia and several other countries ⚖️¹². A regulator's authorization means the company operates legally; it does not guarantee that your money is safe.

Kraken has had two cases with the US securities regulator (SEC), and both are closed ⚖️. In the first, in 2023, Kraken paid 30 million dollars and stopped offering staking as a service¹⁵. The second was dropped in 2025¹⁶.

In June 2024 a bug in the deposit system, which credited balances before a deposit was complete, let almost 3 million dollars be withdrawn from Kraken. The exchange said the money came out of its own funds, customer funds were not affected, and the bug was fixed within a few hours. The bug was exploited by the security company CertiK, which later returned the money¹⁷. While crypto sits on an exchange, its safety depends on the exchange's security. Your own wallet removes that risk, though you then answer for the keys yourself; the guide how to store crypto helps you choose where to keep it.

Who Kraken suits and who it does not

Kraken suits people who live in a country the exchange serves and want to buy crypto with money, trade in Kraken Pro at a price of their own, or send USDT on one of many networks. If you care whether an exchange is registered with a regulator, the government body that licenses financial companies, Kraken publishes a list of its licenses by country. You can compare it with the regulator's register ⚖️.

Kraken will not suit you if you live in Russia or another country the exchange does not serve, if you are an EEA customer who needs USDT specifically, or if you want to hold the keys to your crypto yourself. In that last case you need your own wallet, and the article how to choose a crypto wallet helps you pick one. how to choose a crypto exchange helps you compare Kraken with other exchanges on the same points.

More detail on Kraken's networks, countries, licenses and SEC cases

On Kraken, USDT can be deposited and withdrawn on Ethereum, Tron, Solana, The Open Network (TON), Polygon, Arbitrum One, Optimism and Avalanche C-Chain⁶.

Kraken's terms forbid using the exchange from sanctioned and embargoed jurisdictions, among them Crimea, Cuba, the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Belarus and Syria ⚖️¹¹. Separately, the exchange lists the countries whose customers it does not serve and from which it accepts no deposits; that list adds Afghanistan, Iraq and Japan ⚖️¹².

The Kraken group's legal name is Payward ⚖️. Its licenses and registrations on 30.10.2026¹²:

• in the US, Payward Interactive is registered with the Treasury's financial crimes unit (FinCEN) as a money services business;
• in the UK, Payward Limited is registered with the financial regulator (FCA) as a cryptoasset firm;
• in the EU, two Kraken companies in Ireland hold crypto-asset service provider status under MiCA from the Central Bank of Ireland;
• in Canada and Australia, there are registrations with the financial intelligence agencies (FINTRAC and AUSTRAC);
• in Argentina, Payward Trading Limited holds a CNV registration as a virtual asset service provider (PSAV) for custody and exchange of crypto;
• in Singapore, according to Kraken, the exchange has no license.

The first SEC case was settled on 9 February 2023¹⁵. The SEC filed the second case on 20 November 2023, and on 27 March 2025 the SEC and Kraken jointly filed to dismiss it with prejudice, meaning the claim cannot be brought again. The SEC noted that this decision does not necessarily reflect its position on any other case¹⁶.

Frequently asked questions