Kraken Cryptocurrency Exchange Review
The world of cryptocurrency traders and investors recognizes Kraken as the best bitcoin exchange out there. It has been around for around eight years now and remains one of the most trusted exchanges for anyone interested in trading cryptocurrencies. Of course, cryptocurrency market is new and that’s why you don’t have a large amount of data available on crypto exchanges either. However, within the short span of less than decade, Kraken has emerged as one of the most reliable platforms for cryptocurrency traders. Let’s get to know more about this company in this detailed review.
Kraken – Big, Better, and Safe
Calculating in terms of Euros, Kraken is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world right now. The exchange has always been a favorite of the cryptocurrency traders because of its appearance on the Bloomberg terminal not too long after its emergence. One of the things that you have to admire this exchange for is that it has not had any kind of hacking issues like many other exchanges. Talk about Bitstamp and Poloniex, both these exchanges have had events of hacking. The company also states clearly on the website how it protects the information and money of the traders.
It makes use of the cold wallets i.e. the safest wallets that exist. You have to understand at this point that the safest wallet you can use is the one that’s not connected to the internet at all times. The company’s use of cold wallets means that it stores the funds you deposit in your account in offline wallets. This is an effort that you must admire because many of the hacking incidents in the past took place because this particular issue. A proof of reserves audit that can be verified cryptographically is another accolade that this exchange has earned.
The exchange had been destined to be the biggest right from the start. Four years back in 2015, the exchange had already broken many trading records. In the August 2015, there were more than 17,000 bitcoin exchanged using its platform. This record meant a lot of the traders in the cryptocurrency market. It gave them a reason to trust this exchange for their digital coins.
Trading Experience with Kraken
The first thing that will impress you about trading on Kraken is the number of options you have available. Even with an exchange as famous as Coinbase, you don’t get more than five to six cryptocurrencies to trade. On the other hand, when you have opened your account with Kraken, you will be trading more than 15 different cryptocurrencies. These cryptocurrencies include the big ones such as Litecoin, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the many new and emerging ones such as Cardano, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, EOS, and many more. Not to mention, you can trade these cryptocurrencies with some of the major fiat currencies of the world.
Now, the most important thing you have to know before you start trading is the amount of fees you will have to pay. Of course, you have to pay a fee to the exchange for it to keep running its operations. At the moment, Kraken charges its traders on the maker and taker model. In simplest words, when you are the first one to open a position and some other trader fills that position, you are the maker. When you fill the position that has been opened by some other trader, you are the taker. You have to know here that Kraken charges both, the takers and the makers. There are some exchanges that do not charge the makers any fees at all.
You have to pay the fee on every trade. With Kraken, the fees are different based on the quote and base currencies. However, you won’t have to worry about the rates because detailed charts of the fees are available on the website. Big traders will be happy to know that above certain trade sizes, they don’t have to pay any fees as makers. In some instances, you don’t have to pay any fees as a maker or a taker. For example, when your base currency is Tether USD and the quote currency is USD, you don’t have to pay any fees as a maker or a taker for order above 1,000,000. Overall, the fees are quite low and easily affordable.
Deposits and Withdrawals with Kraken
There are up to six different options available for you to deposit money into your account. Any CAD wires and EUR SEPA deposits that you make in your account are completely free. There are fees associated with deposits that are made with other methods. You can use the same options when it comes to withdrawing money. However, you will have to pay some fees when withdrawing funds from your account regardless of the method you choose.
Kraken Customer Support
There are a few things to admire and a few to not admire about the customer support from Kraken. When you have an issue, the first place you would want to go is the FAQs section on the website. If you need instant help, you can talk to a company agent through the live chat. The live chat option is automatically launched when you land on the website. Other than that, you can open a ticket on the website by choosing the nature of your problem. The issue with customer support is that you don’t have any phone number where you can call and talk to someone about your issue.
Bottom Line
When it comes to trading cryptocurrencies, the first thing that matters is safety. Most of the crypto traders are still scared to deposit their money on the exchange and find out later that the exchange got hacked. That’s where Kraken gives the peace of mind because it has never been hacked. However, most traders believe that the trading platform needs a lot of improvement. In addition to that, the company should definitely do something to make its customer support better. The big reasons to choose Kraken for any trader are security, liquidity, and the variety of cryptocurrencies that can be traded.
