A Reliable Trading Platform for Crypto Traders

Kraken Review

Kraken is a notable crypto exchange that simplifies the buying, selling, and exchanging of an extensive list of dozens of various cryptocurrencies, along with Ethereum and Bitcoin, which are the market leaders at the moment. Kraken lets customers buy and sell cryptocurrencies at market prices. It also offers investment products and futures contracts, which are higher-risk products that might be useful for some ways of trading. 

Kraken is a place to buy and sell digital currencies. It started in San Francisco in 2011 and has since grown to other locations worldwide. Customers in most countries worldwide, including the United States, can use its services. Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange that makes trading easy and affordable for big and small investors.

Accepted Countries

Kraken is a global exchange, but some of its features may only be available in certain places or where specific laws apply. At the moment, Kraken can’t offer its services to people in the following places:

  • Cuba
  • Afghanistan
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • North Korea 
  • Japan
  • Tajikistan

Kraken is a fully regulated exchange that anyone in the United States can use, except those who live in New York and Washington. Residents of both states are not permitted to use Kraken.

Trading Products

Kraken gives its users access to a wide range of different trading choices. It lets you:

  • Six traditional currencies may be used to buy and trade bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (USD, JPY, CHF, EUR, GBP, CAD)
  • Trade one kind of cryptocurrency for another
  • You can engage in foreign exchange exchanges using the supported fiat currencies
  • In the dark pool, place commands that cannot be seen
  • Trade on margin with a maximum leverage of 5x
  • Earn cryptocurrency by making use of Kraken’s industry-leading staking service
  • Wallets and other data stored in data centres will be encrypted

Available Coins on Kraken

Kraken is compatible with approximately 110 different cryptocurrencies, including well-known ones like:

  • Bitcoin (BTC)
  • Cardano (ADA) 
  • Ethereum (ETH) 
  • Litecoin (LTC)
  • Dogecoin (DOGE) 
  • Polygon (MATIC)
  • Litecoin (LTC)
  • Stellar Lumens (XLM)
  • Ripple (XRP)
  • Sushi (SUSHI) 
  • Solana (SOL) 
  • Uniswap (UNI) 

Kraken also works with many stablecoins, like Tether, USD Coin, and Dai. If you want to, you can change dollars from the United States into Canada, Japan, or Switzerland currency. Take into account the fact that only some coins are readily available in some nations.

Mobile App

In case you find yourself in need of a transaction when away from home, keep some currency with you at all times. So, if an exchange is known for having a solid mobile app, that’s a significant selling point.

However, the mobile app leaves a lot to be desired. It’s not just one app, but three. What they do is described below:

  • Kraken is a mobile app that facilitates currency exchange by buying, selling, and depositing.
  • Kraken Pro is a trading tool that allows you to place complex trades with stop-loss and take-profit targets. Kraken Pro does not allow for any financial transaction.
  • This app, Kraken Futures, will let you trade futures on the go if you meet the requirements. You can only fund your Kraken Futures account in a different way than you can with Kraken Pro. 

Customer Support

Kraken stands out from the competition because it provides excellent customer service.

  • Major holidays will only affect your ability to have your queries answered.
  • Kraken’s phone lines are open from 6:00 am – 6.30 pm ET, from Monday to Friday.
  • With the help of the company’s many resources, you can learn the basics of trading and set up your Kraken account.

Kraken Security

Kraken has never experienced a wallet breach because of the extreme care with security. To reduce the possibility of monetary coin theft, it implements many safeguards, such as:

  • Initiating a direct transfer of newly deposited funds to offline, ‘cold’ wallets wholly disconnected from the internet.
  • Keeping the vast majority of coins offline in cold storage and just the minimum amount needed in “hot” or online storage to ensure Kraken’s liquidity.
  • Keeping a fraction of one’s money in semi-cold wallets on secure computers with encrypted hard drives.
  • Everything stored in data centres, including wallets, will be encrypted.

Trading Fees

  • Instant Buy on Kraken has a distinct cost structure, which might attract newcomers unfamiliar with maker/taker models.
  • Unlike Kraken Pro, Instant Buy’s transaction costs are much higher. In order to cut costs, users should familiarise themselves with the trading platform.
  • There is a 1.5% cost for all other cryptocurrencies and a 0.9% fee for stablecoins when using Instant Buy. If the customer uses their online banking account to buy cryptocurrency, they will additionally be charged a processing fee of 0.5%. 
  • Kraken Pro customers pay a fraction of what the other users do. For transactions under $50,000 in the preceding 30 days, the maker fee is 0.16%, and the taker cost is 0.26%.

Registration

  • Kraken’s Instant Buy technology can make the exchange a costly method to enter the cryptocurrency market, but newcomers will find no further obstacles to their use. In a matter of minutes, you’ll be confirmed.
  • In order to be granted access to Kraken Pro, various papers must be personally examined, which might take a few days.
  • After your identity has been confirmed, you can load your wallet with fiat currency like US dollars and begin buying cryptocurrencies. Money may be added to your account on the site using a credit card or a debit card.
  • While Kraken provides helpful training resources, inexperienced traders may feel unprepared for the platform’s expectations of user competence.
  • Kraken has certain limitations regarding where it may operate in the US. Visitors in New York City and the District of Columbia can only use the site once.

Kraken Pros and Cons

  • Advanced capabilities, such as margin trading and stakes, are supported
  • Options that provide excellent customer service
  • Withdrawal fees in Bitcoin (BTC) are not too expensive
  • A diverse selection of educational materials 
  • The option to stake coins on the platform itself
  • Two different user experiences are available.
  • Convenient and uncomplicated identification checks
  • The Kraken app is reliable and valuable for the vast majority of its users

Cons

  • This service is not currently offered in all 50 United States
  • Kraken is limited to accepting only selected fiat currencies

Conclusion

Kraken is excellent for those new to trading cryptocurrencies and seasoned pros. Liquidity, convenience, cheap fees, and a straightforward user interface are all selling points. Since it doesn’t allow bank card deposits, there are better choices than this if you need to acquire bitcoins rapidly. If you are okay with going through all the rigorous Know Your Customer (KYC) processes, this is a fantastic exchange to add to your trading toolkit, and it has some of the most assertive security policies in the market.

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