Kraken review Review
Kraken is an online exchange platform. You can sell and buy cryptocurrencies as they offer more than 80 crypto assets, and support traders in roughly 190 countries. Their platform has very good security and the ability to loan out your coins for rewards, all at a price point on the lower side of average. It was launched in 2013 in San Francisco and since then has grown into 180 countries. It suits beginners and professionals.
What can be traded
Kraken supports 87 cryptocurrencies, including popular ones such as: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Polkadot etc. They also support a handful of stable coins including Tether, USD Coin, and Dai. Kraken boasts a high liquidity, meaning it is easier to buy and sell at a fair price. They offer a PRO account for the skilled ones and a normal Kraken account for beginners. Another plus is that they offer margin, stop orders, and crypto short sales and something called a dark pool where high-volume investors can trade anonymously.
Regulation
As they say on their website: “Kraken has a flawless security record after over ten years of business”. Kraken is registered as a Money Services Business (MSB) with: FinCEN in USA and FINTRAC in Canada. CryptoFacilities Ltd. is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK’s primary financial regulatory body. This was perfectly explained on their website.
Demo account
Using a demo trading account means that you don’t need to worry about losing money, you can learn and gain skills before you go live with trading. It’s a good educational tool for beginners. Kraken offers this wonderful tool. You`ll have available, virtual, funds to test your skills, or in other words, to play around with.
Fees
They have a nice structure explained on their website. For instant purchases, the fee is 1.5% for most cryptocurrencies. 0.9% for stable coins using U.S. dollars. Additional fees depend on how you fund the investment. Prices range from 0.5% for funding with a bank account to over 3.75% with a debit card, credit card, or digital wallet.
Registration
To register you click the “Create Account” button in the top right corner of their website. A short form loads up, where they ask for your email, username and password.
After filling in, you get a verification code in your email. That came immediately and with a snap of a finger I`m in. In this dashboard, you can update settings, manage your approval level, manage API keys, and lock down your account.
To verify your account and access all trading features, you’ll need to provide additional information, you`ll be able to choose from 3 accounts, depending on your needs. Starter, intermediate, and pro. Once you’re verified, you can fund your account with fiat currency, and start purchasing cryptocurrencies.
In the account section, you’ll find open orders and their positions, here you can place trades, including market and limit orders. This area also includes the basic web-based interface and Kraken Pro. Once you’ve completed a trade, consider moving your cryptocurrency to a software or hardware wallet and after this move, you can have Kraken Pro.
You have support available the whole time in the account. For beginners and professionals.
Visually it’s clean, simple and intuitive. It has an uncluttered layout that is very easy on the eye.
Kraken website
This website is clean, modern, and functional. I like the choice of purple and white, although I`m not a fan of purple color. It is very responsive and easy to navigate on. At the top you have the main menu. Features, Prices, Learn, Support, Futures and Institutions. In the Features option you`ll find support, Security information, the fee structure and so on. In the option “Learn” they offer videos, podcasts and Crypto Guides. The whole time you have Live Chat as support and if you wish to contact them, you can do so via email or telephone.
Social networks
In the bottom pane of their pages you can go to their Facebook, Twitter or Linked In accounts. On Facebook, they have around 28 000 followers. Not bad. They post information and points of interest nearly every day. Twitter is pretty much the same, same posts, but there’s around 1 million followers.
Advantages and disadvantages of Kraken
Kraken has a long history, since 2011. Thanks to Kraken’s pricing and features they are a good choice for beginner to expert cryptocurrency traders, for pro traders, they have low fees. They have a live chatbot and they are active on their social networks. On the other hand, it’s not the easiest platform to navigate compared to competitors. High instant buy fees, withdrawal fees, and high minimums.
Pros:
- Regulated
- Live chatbot
- Registering for an account is easy
- No deposit
Cons:
- High instant buy fees
- High fees on withdrawals
- Depositing with electronic wallet isn`t available
- Withdrawal may take up to 5 business day
Pros / Cons
Our Score
Kraken is an online exchange platform. You can trade more than 80 crypto assets. Traders support in roughly 190 countries. Launched in 2013, San Francisco.