Kraken Review – Are They Safe or a Scam?

The Kraken crypto exchange is very easy to register with – just use your email address and a password to get started. During our Kraken review, we registered our account within 5 minutes. You can secure your password as soon as your email is verified by implementing 2-Factor Authorization.

Advanced verification is then utilised when making a deposit. This is Kraken crypto exchange’s Know Your Customer procedure. You’ll just need some basic documents like your passport and bank statements. Once this is all completed, you’ll be free to make a deposit.

To deal with the issue of custody, where you do not own your cryptocurrency as it is held with the exchange, Kraken allows users to transfer there cryptocurrency to their own hot or cold wallet straightaway – that means you can fund your account, buy cryptocurrency, and then send it to a wallet where you control the keys.

91/100

Rating

Kraken Highlights

• Over 50 Cryptocurrencies
• Unique education platform
• 3 trading apps

Go to Kraken

We rigorously tested the platform during our Kraken review and felt that the overall platform was incredibly intuitive and very simple to use – a great option for new traders. Unlike many cryptocurrency exchanges, Kraken offers three levels of order placements, including a beginner system, adding to the platform’s simplicity for new traders.

The apps are well designed and highly optimised. Our Kraken review of the Pro app offered a truly streamlined trading platform with access to a great range of charts and tools. Based on our Kraken review, we determined there are currently 56 different tradable cryptocurrencies available on this platform. This covers all the major cryptos such as bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and extends to altcoins that are growing in demand and popularity like Cardano and Polkadot.

With such an extensive range of digital assets at Kraken, users will not need to look to any other cryptocurrency exchange to cover any gaps in the market.

Kraken only provides a single account but it contains 4 verification levels, topping out with the pro account. The starter account does not allow for fiat deposits or withdrawals, and the express account is only available in the US. However, users really shouldn’t be at a starter level for very long as the requirements for the intermediate verification level is only to be 18 years old, residing in a supported area, and having completed the KYC procedure.

Pro users will benefit the most from verification in the form of the lowest limitations across all features of the Kraken trading platform. You’ll even be able to trade on the OTC desk and hold a business account.

There are 3 unique mobile apps offered by Kraken. The apps cater to different trading needs and experience levels. The most basic app has recently been redesigned and offers the most introductory features to ensure the crypto ordering process is as simple as possible. The Kraken Pro app provides far more features and order types, while the 3rd app, the Kraken Futures app, is aimed at those who wish to trade in futures.

Users who do not wish to go mobile or download any software can still choose to stick to the web browser-based platform. Those users will still enjoy the same features as the apps, and we found the dashboard to be quite intuitive, albeit a little bit dated in appearance. We found 3 distinct trade ticket types in Simple; for basic buy/sell, Intermediate; for leverage trading, and Advanced; this allowed for pre-sets such as stop loss orders and settle position triggers.

Our Kraken review depicts that users can trade cryptocurrencies with several fiat currencies including: US Dollar, Swiss Franc, Euro, Pound Sterling, Australian Dollar, and Canadian Dollar. We also determined that Kraken has the largest Euro trading volume compared to any other cryptocurrency exchange we have reviewed.

There are a few payable fees at Kraken, but they are considerably low. Trading fees can be as low as 0%, whereas the highest we recorded was at 0.26%. Fees are charged on a per trade basis and it depends on whether you are buying or selling. Your particular fee may be influenced by the 30-day trading volume and which particular currency pair you will be trading.

When we conducted our Kraken review, we noticed that there were less payment method choices than many other exchanges available online. While Kraken Pro users can purchase cryptocurrency in Euros with a debit or credit card, other users will need to use local bank methods. For example, European account holders can make SEPA payments, while American traders can make SWIFT and FedWire payments.

First-time deposits are subject to a 72-hour withdrawal hold, and your deposit limits will be based upon your verification level. Every available country has several fee-free deposit methods, and the processing times can vary between instant deposits and about 5 business days.

Kraken reviews online talk of 24/7 customer support, and our reviews confirm this. Kraken does indeed offer 24/7 support via live chat and email. The email support is via a webform on the Kraken website which has become commonplace within this industry.

The chat icon is easily located at the bottom right of the Kraken website and is available 24/7 also. Some Kraken reviews point to a lazy chat system and we did note that most of our queries were handled by a chat bot. However, the live chat bot is able to escalate your conversation to a real agent and we did reach a person during our Kraken using experience.

Further proving its activity within the crypto community, Kraken opened a threat in popular forum website, Reddit, so that customers could leave messages regarding issues and a Kraken account would actively respond to users.  This broker, for example, actively warns the community about Kraken scams, such as apps posing as the legitimate Kraken app.

The extensive Kraken review we conducted noted that this broker complies with legal and regulatory requirements in the jurisdictions in which it operates. Furthermore, to determine if Kraken is reliable, we checked for regulatory licences too. Kraken is registered with FinCen in the US and FINTRAC in Canada. The exchange holds further licences in the UK, Australia, and in Asia.

Kraken deposits are not covered by deposit insurance; however Kraken relies on its trusted history and exemplary security record as proof that clients’ money will remain safe. To offer some peace of mind to users, Kraken has set aside a million-dollar fund to act as insurance in the event of losses.

You’re probably wondering, is Kraken safe? Considering Kraken has been around since 2011 and never been hacked, you know this exchange takes security very seriously. 95% of all deposits at Kraken are kept in a geographically distributed cold wallet, free from cyber threats. All data is highly encrypted at multiple levels and, like many cryptocurrency exchanges, users can use 2-Factor Authorization as an added security layer when accessing their account.

Kraken recently began offering cryptocurrency future trading on 5 major currency and fiat pairs, with up to 50x leverage. The education platform is quite unique with weekly podcasts and detailed webinars featuring guests. Our Kraken review found the education platform to be a real selling point and it certainly offered something that no other exchange does.