Kraken: fact sheet

Who runs Kraken?

Kraken is a brand, not a single company. Its legal pages and regulator records name Payward, Inc. and a group of Payward subsidiaries, each licensed in a different place. Which Payward company you sign up with depends on where you live, and that decides which rules apply to your account.

Unlike the Coinbase and Gemini fact sheets, which draw on annual reports filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), this page relies on Kraken’s own legal pages and on regulators’ releases. Kraken’s website does not state a founding date or head office that we could confirm, so we leave those out. Its products for individuals include the Kraken app for simple buying and selling, Kraken Pro for order-book trading, and staking in some countries.

This fact sheet does not rate or recommend Kraken. It records what we could check on 2 October 2026 and names the source for each item.

Is Kraken licensed or registered where you live?

Kraken’s support page “Where is Kraken licensed or regulated?” (last updated 30 September 2026) lists these entities:

These are the company’s own statements. Our tools could not open the FCA register or the full ESMA list of MiCA firms, so look up the entity yourself. Kraken does not appear on the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) list of licensed virtual currency businesses, which fits with its statement that it does not serve New York residents.

Where is Kraken not available?

Kraken’s geographic restrictions page says: “We do not serve clients, or permit cash and crypto deposits, from the following regions”. The list includes Afghanistan, Belarus, the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Libya, North Korea, Russia, Sudan, South Sudan and Syria.

In the United States it says: “At this time, Kraken (including Kraken Securities LLC and Kraken Adviser LLC) does not offer services to residents of: Maine, New York”. The same page lists product-level limits for some other US states, Canada and the UK. Check it for your country before you deposit.

How does Kraken charge fees?

Kraken’s official fee schedule describes two very different price structures:

• Kraken app (instant and recurring buys). “Kraken charges a 1% trading fee on instant and recurring trades”. You also pay a spread, which Kraken defines as “the difference between the market rate and the rate you receive”.
• Kraken Pro (order book). Fees depend on your 30-day trading volume. At the entry tier ($0 and up), the schedule lists 0.40% for maker orders (orders that wait on the book) and 0.80% for taker orders (orders that fill at once). The rates fall as volume rises.
• Deposits and withdrawals. Funding fees can be fixed or variable, depending on the method and currency, and Kraken says it may change them.

Illustrative arithmetic: a $1,000 instant buy at 1% costs $1,000 × 1% = $10 in fees before the spread. The same $1,000 as an entry-tier taker order on Kraken Pro costs $1,000 × 0.80% = $8. Our order types guide explains maker and taker orders, and the crypto fee calculator adds up the full cost.

What does Kraken’s proof of reserves show?

Kraken publishes proof-of-reserves (PoR) reviews. It says a PoR review “is a procedure performed by an independent 3rd party accountant”. The review covers a set of in-scope assets: bitcoin, ether, Solana, USD Coin, Tether and XRP. Any client can check that their own balance was included by comparing data with a “Merkle root” — a cryptographic summary of all included balances.

Kraken’s own page also lists what a PoR review cannot show. It cannot prove that no one else holds copies of the private keys. It cannot reveal hidden debts or funds borrowed just for the review. It cannot show whether funds were lost or stolen after the review date. US audit regulators make similar points; see our explainer on what proof of reserves does and does not prove.

What regulatory actions has Kraken faced?

Only regulators’ own announcements are used here. A charge is an allegation, not a finding.

The DNB order dated from 14 July 2023 and carried €500,000 for each week Payward International did not comply, up to €4 million.

What should you check before you sign up?

These checks come from regulator guidance, not from Kraken. They apply to any platform.

1. Find it on the register yourself. Type the regulator’s web address into your browser rather than following a link, then compare the exact legal entity name, reference number, website and phone number with what you were given. Scammers copy the details of real firms. Our guide to checking if a crypto firm is authorised lists the official registers by country.
2. Read what the register entry means. The UK FCA says: “Being registered with the FCA as a cryptoasset business does not mean your customers benefit from the protections of the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).” FinCEN says a listing on its MSB site “is not a recommendation, certification of legitimacy, or endorsement of that business by any government agency.”
3. Know which entity you are signing up with. The terms of service name the company you contract with. That entity, and the country it is in, decide which rules apply to you.
4. Decide who holds the keys. The SEC warns: “If the third-party custodian is hacked, shuts down, or goes bankrupt, you may lose access to your crypto assets.” Read our lesson on wallets and private keys before you leave a balance on any platform.
5. Price the whole trade. Add the spread, the trading fee and the withdrawal fee before you buy. Our crypto fee calculator does the arithmetic.
6. Check the product, not just the platform. Staking, margin and derivatives are restricted differently by country. Confirm the product you want is offered to residents of your country.

What are the risks of using Kraken?

• Price risk. The UK FCA says people who buy crypto should be prepared to lose all their money.
• Custody risk. Crypto left on any platform depends on that platform staying secure and solvent. A proof-of-reserves review is a snapshot, not a guarantee.
• No compensation scheme. FCA cryptoasset registration does not bring Financial Ombudsman or FSCS protection. EU supervisors say MiCA does not include compensation schemes for crypto.
• Product risk. Margin, futures and staking add risks beyond buying a coin. Read our guide to volatility before you use them.

See our wider guide to crypto risks.