Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange that caters to individual and institutional investors by providing trading at affordable prices.
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Kraken Overview
Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to purchase and sell cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Kraken is one of the earliest known exchanges and now offers more than 120 different currencies that users may buy, sell, and trade with exchange fees that are among the lowest available.
It supports spot trading at the prices that are currently available on the market, as well as cryptocurrency futures.
Kraken is a wonderful option for both newcomers and seasoned investors and traders in bitcoin who are searching for a platform that offers minimal trading costs and access to a diverse range of cryptocurrencies.
Platform & Features
Kraken is distinguished from its competitors by its sophisticated trading features and acceptance of margin trading. Your account’s leverage via margin trading might magnify gains or losses based on the threshold you establish for your margin call.
Kraken gives its customers a wide range of order types to choose from, including limit orders, stop orders, market orders, trailing stop-limit orders, fill or kill, and one cancels the other (OCO), to name a few.
Kraken’s mobile app is a further perk since it provides quick and easy access to your accounts on the go. This is helpful since it allows people to access their money regardless of where they happen to be at the time.
History Of Kraken
Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange that was started in San Francisco in 2011 and now has offices all over the globe. Customers may access its services in the majority of nations throughout the globe, including the United States.
Kraken Pro, with its extensive margin and future capabilities, is likely to be more appealing to experienced and expert crypto aficionados. However, the standard Kraken platform is the best option for beginners.
Coin staking offers the opportunity for users of all experience levels, including beginners, to accumulate interest benefits. Kraken is likely capable of meeting all of your bitcoin requirements due to the mix of the platforms and services it offers.
Security and Regulation
Kraken has top-notch online security in place, making it almost impossible for hackers to forge into your account. After funds have been added to an account, it is a very good idea to enable two-factor authentication.
You can generate unique two-factor codes for logging in, withdrawing money from your account, and making transactions.
Even while the majority of customers had a favorable experience, in some rare occasions users have reported having their accounts stolen, and as a result, losing everything and having no way of retrieving lost assets. 97% of the time it’s due connecting Kraken to unauthorized third party tools or having their passwords compromised, without having the two-factor authentication enabled.
Due to the impossibility of reversing transactions conducted on a blockchain for a cryptocurrency, take extra care of your accounts. When utilizing Kraken or any other exchange, always follow their security recommendations.
Fees and Commissions
Pricing and fees are not consistent across platforms since they change according to the nature of the transaction being executed. Prices are always subject to spread fees, regardless of the circumstance.
The charge for making quick purchases with most cryptocurrencies is 1.5%, whereas the fee for making purchases with stablecoins using U.S. dollars or another stablecoin is 0.9%. The manner in which you pay for the purchase may be subject to additional costs.
The cost of using a bank account to finance your purchase is 0.5%, whereas using a debit card, credit card, or digital wallet would cost you over 3.75% plus $0.25.
Kraken Pro has pricing that is far more affordable than the main Kraken platform. Pricing is determined by the overall trading volume you’ve conducted over the course of the previous 30 days.
The vast majority of deals are subject to one of two types of fees: 0.26% for takers and 0.16% for makers. Maker orders are transactions that are not promptly matched against existing orders and contribute to the platform by adding liquidity.
Orders that match against an existing order placed by another user on the market are subject to a slightly higher cost and are assessed a fee known as a “taker fee.”
What Can You Trade On Kraken?
Kraken is compatible with approximately 110 different cryptocurrencies, including well-known ones like:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Polkadot (DOT)
- Polygon (MATIC)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Solana (SOL)
- Stellar Lumens (XLM)
- Sushi (SUSHI)
- Uniswap (UNI)
In addition to that, Kraken is compatible with a number of stablecoins, such as Tether, USD Coin, and Dai.
If you really want to, you can even change dollars from the United States into the currency of Canada, Japan, or Switzerland. Take into account the fact that not all currencies are readily accessible in every nation.
How To Open Your Kraken Account
When you join up with Kraken, the process is quite similar to signing up for a stock brokerage account or another cryptocurrency exchange. If you have all of your information on hand, setting up your account is a simple process that can be completed in just a few minutes.
You will be required to provide identifying information such as your name, address, telephone number, and Social Security number when you sign up for the service.
The requirements for the financial sector that are referred to as “Know Your Customer” (KYC) include the submission of this information.
You will be required to provide additional information in order to verify your account and gain access to all trading features. This includes uploading a copy of a government-issued photo ID as well as a picture of yourself holding the ID in question.
If you do not provide this information, the functioning of your account will be severely restricted.
Kraken Customer Support
Kraken offers round-the-clock customer service via a variety of channels. In a matter of not more than twenty minutes, Kraken’s support team responds and fixes the issue.
Although our interaction with customer support was positive, not everyone has had the same experience. Some dissatisfied users claim they have had problems retrieving their payments from Kraken after they were hacked.
Pros
- Kraken is compatible with more than 120 different cryptocurrencies and supports prominent currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, and Dogecoin, among others.
- Even if you have no prior familiarity with cryptocurrencies, you should find the user interface of Kraken to be simple and straightforward.
- Kraken is an exchange with a high level of liquidity and is a dynamic marketplace that makes it simple to buy and sell cryptocurrencies at market prices.
Cons
- The standard Kraken platform has higher transaction fees than Kraken Pro.
- Some users have reported financial losses as a result of hacks
Conclusion
Kraken is the place to go if you want to take trading seriously at any level. Even while their prices are somewhat more than those of other exchanges, we believe that our superior customer service and many safety measures make our platform well worth the investment.