We cover Kraken pros and cons with the three main reasons you should signup with the regulated US exchange.
It’s essential to note that we primarily compare Kraken to other regulated US alternatives such as Coinbase and Gemini.
- Kraken offers low deposit, exchange and trading fees
- Kraken has a solid track record with no hacking history and long history of the Merkle tree proof-of-reserves
- Kraken offers futures trading with leverage, many altcoin listings, and a lot of staking opportunities
Kraken Review – Pros and Cons
Summing everything up, the pros and cons of trading at Kraken are:
Pros
- Kraken is a regulated US exchange and a long track record with no reported hack.
- Kraken was one of the first crypto exchanges to implement the Merkle tree proof-of-reserves
- To be a regulated US exchange, Kraken has many fiat and cryptocurrencies.
- There is deep liquidity, especially for the GBP and EUR markets
- Low trade and transaction fees for being a regulated US exchange
- The Kraken trading app has very high review rankings
Cons
- The interface might be confusing in the beginning
- There are crypto trading platforms with lower spot trading fees. However, these trading platforms don’t allow US customers.
- There are trading platforms with better opportunities for leverage trading. Still, they don’t accept US traders.
3 Reasons why Traders and Investors Signup with Kraken crypto exchange
1. Kraken has low fees
- Low exchange and trading fees
- Low deposit fees
Kraken Exchange and Trading Fees
Kraken has some of the lowest fees among the US-regulated crypto exchanges.
- Spot trading fees start at Maker/Taker: 0.16%/0.26%
- Futures trading fees start at Maker/Taker: 0.02%/0.05%
With Kraken, you can deposit by SEPA, SWIFT, and credit card. They charge low fees for all deposit alternatives compared to other US alternative crypto exchanges.
2. Kraken has high security and proof-of-reserves
- Early adaptor of Merkle-tree proof-of-reserves
- Has a solid and long track record with no hack reported at all
Kraken Merkle Tree
Kraken was among the first crypto exchanges to adopt third-party audits with Merkle-tree proof-of-reserves. There has been an extensive discussion about verifying crypto exchange funds after all collapses during 2022, including FTX, FTX US, Terra Luna, Celsius, Blockfi, Voyager, and 3 Arrow Capital.
Kraken Hack History
In addition, Kraken is one of the few crypto exchanges with a long history and no reported hacks. This indicates they operate with some of the highest security standards.
See a complete list of all crypto exchange hacks through history.
3. Kraken has many crypto trading products
- Kraken Pro with futures trading up to 50x and margin trading up to 5x
- More listed cryptocurrency markets than other US-regulated exchanges
Kraken Leverage and Markets
Kraken is one of few regulated US exchanges offering futures trading with leverage up to 50x. Also, margin trading with opportunities to trade leverage up to 5x.
In addition, Kraken lists many cryptocurrencies and leverage trading pairs.
- 26 Futures
- 107 Perpetuals
- 729 Spot markets
- 229 Cryptocurrencies
