Kraken Review: Fees, Safety and Availability by Country

A Kraken review for a first-time buyer comes down to what to know about this cryptocurrency exchange before signing up: what it costs, what it publishes about security and what has gone wrong before. Check which Kraken company serves your country, and its registration, before you deposit anything (see availability by country).

What Kraken offers and where

Kraken is an exchange run by a different company in each region. Its licensing page lists companies for the US, UK, EU and EEA, Canada and Australia. It offers no services in Maine and New York, or in the regions it lists as not served (see availability by country). It publishes no support phone numbers, only the in-app Support tab and live chat.

We read Kraken's own pages, regulators' releases and one news report between 10 and 13 October 2026. We did not open an account or place an order, so this is a documentation review, not a hands-on Kraken app review. We could not check the US, UK, Canadian and Australian entries in their registers, and we could not read the per-coin withdrawal fees.

Kraken against the eight checks

"Documented" means Kraken or a regulator publishes the answer. It is not a score. The checks come from our exchanges page.

Fees to expect on Kraken

As of October 2026, Kraken's UK fee page (opens in a new tab), its US fee page (opens in a new tab), its EU fee page (Netherlands version) (opens in a new tab), its Canada fee page (opens in a new tab) and its Australia fee page (opens in a new tab) list the same percentages. Check the page for your own country, since fees can vary by where you registered.

Costs of buying:

• Trading fee. All five pages list 1% on instant and recurring trades and 1.5% on custom orders. Kraken Pro has its own maker and taker tiers, covered in Kraken app versus Kraken Pro fees.
• Spread. The price shown on instant buys includes a spread, the difference between the market rate and the rate you receive, and Kraken may keep any spread surplus. Kraken publishes no spread size, so divide the total you pay by the coins you get and compare that figure with the market price at the same moment from a second source.
• Deposit or card fee. Kraken's deposit page (opens in a new tab) lists the main bank transfer routes in the US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia as free. Debit card deposits cost 3.75% plus a small fixed fee, and some other routes carry their own fees. Your own bank may still charge you.
• Currency conversion. If you pay in another currency, look for a conversion charge on the order screen before you confirm.

Costs of sending crypto out later:

• Withdrawal fee. Before you buy a coin, confirm on the withdrawal screen that it can be sent on the network your wallet uses, because a transfer on the wrong network can be lost and cannot be reversed (see how withdrawal networks work). Kraken says (opens in a new tab) every crypto withdrawal has a minimum amount and a fee that covers the transaction cost. The fee can change and differ from the page, and the final fee is shown when you confirm. If the confirmation screen shows more than the page, stop and ask support.
• Network fee. Kraken describes its withdrawal fee as covering the transaction cost, so check whether the screen lists a separate network fee. See exchange withdrawal fees versus network fees.

Availability by country

As of October 2026, Kraken's licensing page (opens in a new tab) lists the following. These are Kraken's own descriptions. A registration is not a safety guarantee, so look up the company yourself, as described in the registration check.

• United States: Kraken says it is registered with FinCEN as a money services business through Payward Interactive, Inc. (number 31000270997766). It offers no services to residents of Maine and New York.
• United Kingdom: Payward Limited is registered with the FCA as a cryptoasset business (FRN 928768), for anti-money-laundering purposes. That is not FCA authorization, so search the FCA Financial Services Register for the number. Kraken says retail clients living in the UK cannot trade derivatives, and that elective professional clients may be eligible.
• EU and EEA: Payward Europe Solutions Limited is licensed by the Central Bank of Ireland under MiCA. ESMA's register (opens in a new tab) lists it from 25 June 2025, and a second Kraken company, Payward Global Solutions Limited, also appears, so confirm which company your contract is with.
• Canada: Kraken says it is a restricted dealer, a registration category in Canada, with the Ontario Securities Commission and the regulators in all provinces and territories. Canadian clients cannot trade on margin or trade derivatives.
• Australia: Bit Trade Pty Ltd (ACN 163 237 634) is registered with AUSTRAC as a digital currency exchange.

Elsewhere, Kraken lists regions it does not serve, including Japan, Russia and Iran. Check that list and your own country's financial regulator before you deposit. Deposit routes per country are on Kraken's deposit page (opens in a new tab), and holds are covered in Kraken withdrawal holds.

Security record: is Kraken safe?

A documentation review cannot answer "is Kraken safe" with a yes or no. It can show what Kraken publishes and what the public record says.

Security features

Kraken's 2FA page (opens in a new tab) lists two-factor authentication (2FA, a second check besides your password) with a passkey, which Kraken calls its most secure method, or an authenticator app, which it calls moderately secure. The code can apply to sign-in, trading, deposits and withdrawals.

The Global Settings Lock (GSL) blocks changes to your account, including adding a withdrawal address and changing your password, email or 2FA. Kraken says (opens in a new tab) unlocking it without a Master Key takes at least 24 hours, or up to 30 days depending on your settings, and it emails you when someone tries. With the lock on, an attacker who has your login cannot add their own withdrawal address. In Kraken's own example, the attacker then asks you to unlock your settings, so never unlock at someone else's request. For the other account protections, read how to secure your exchange account.

Proof of reserves

As of October 2026, Kraken says (opens in a new tab) an independent third-party accountant takes an anonymized snapshot of all client balances and obtains a Merkle root, a cryptographic fingerprint of it. The latest snapshot is dated 30 June 2026 and covers Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, USDC, Tether and XRP, so other assets you hold may not be covered.

The page also says the method cannot prove exclusive possession of private keys or identify hidden encumbrances. Since the last review, keys may have been lost or funds stolen. A snapshot is a point in time.

Regulatory and security history

In April 2026, Kraken's security chief said a criminal group was threatening to release videos of Kraken's internal systems with client data shown, as reported by Decrypt (opens in a new tab). He estimated that around 2,000 people potentially had their information viewed, and said no customer funds were at risk and internal systems were not breached. The company said it would not negotiate.

A Kraken spokesperson told Decrypt the group recruited client support agents to gain inappropriate access to client information, on two separate occasions. Kraken's security chief also pointed to an earlier incident in February 2025, when a similar video with customer information was shared on a criminal forum, according to Decrypt. We cannot verify these statements. The case is a reason to contact Kraken only through its official channels (opens in a new tab), described under support.

Regulators have also acted on Kraken. Each action below is separate:

• In November 2022, OFAC announced (opens in a new tab) Kraken agreed to pay $362,158.70 to settle potential civil liability for apparent violations of sanctions against Iran.
• On 9 February 2023, the SEC announced (opens in a new tab) that Payward Ventures, Inc. and Payward Trading Ltd. (Kraken) agreed to immediately cease offering or selling securities through crypto asset staking services and to pay $30 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil penalties.
• The SEC sued Kraken on 20 November 2023. In March 2025, the SEC filed (opens in a new tab) a joint stipulation to dismiss the case with prejudice. It said the dismissal rests on its judgment about reforming its approach to crypto, not on any assessment of the merits of the claims.
• In December 2024, ASIC announced (opens in a new tab) that the Federal Court ordered Bit Trade Pty Ltd, the Australian operator of the Kraken exchange, to pay $8 million for unlawfully issuing a credit facility (a margin extension product) to more than 1100 Australian customers.

Support you can reach

Kraken says (opens in a new tab) it does not publish direct support phone numbers. Where available, an option to call Kraken appears in the Support tab of the Kraken, Kraken Pro or Krak mobile apps. Live chat and the support center at support.kraken.com are the other official routes.

Treat any phone number you find online that claims to be Kraken Support as a potential phishing scam. Kraken Support only calls you if a call was arranged beforehand by email or live chat. For other scam patterns, read how to spot crypto scams, and see what real crypto support never asks for.

Downsides to weigh

As of October 2026:

• The spread on instant buys has no published size and is built into the price shown.
• Withdrawals carry a minimum and a fee that can change before you confirm.
• Kraken offers no services in Maine and New York.
• UK retail clients and Canadian clients cannot trade derivatives, and Canadian clients cannot trade on margin.
• Regulators have acted against Kraken companies in the US (OFAC in 2022, the SEC in 2023) and Australia (ASIC in 2024), as described in the regulatory history above.
• Kraken's own page (opens in a new tab) says proof of reserves cannot prove that Kraken alone holds the private keys.
• A Kraken spokesperson told Decrypt (opens in a new tab) that a criminal group recruited client support agents to access client information on two occasions.

Alternatives by type

Compare any alternative against the same eight checks.

• A broker app is an investing app that also sells crypto. Check which company holds your crypto and whether it can be withdrawn.
• Another crypto exchange is a marketplace like Kraken. Compare its company and register entry for your country, its fees and its holds.
• A Bitcoin-only service sells just Bitcoin, so you give up choice of coins by design. Check its withdrawal rules.

Choosing between types is covered in how to choose a crypto exchange. Before you sign up anywhere, read how to buy crypto step by step and Kraken app versus Kraken Pro fees. Once you hold Kraken coins, see how to send Bitcoin from Kraken, how to export your Kraken transaction history and exchange country restrictions.