Kraken vs Binance: Features, Fees & More (2024) (2024)

FAQs

How much is the fee on Binance compared to Kraken? ›

The spot trading fee on Binance ranges between 0% and 0.10%, while it's 0% to 0.26% on Kraken. Note that if you're just looking to buy or sell crypto with Binance (rather than trade coins with someone else), you'll pay a higher fee of 0.50%. Users who opt to pay with Binance Coin enjoy a 25% fee discount on fees.

Due to its simple fee structure, Binance may be more suitable for beginners or infrequent traders. However, Kraken offers more competitive rates for active traders looking to save on fees as trading volume increases.

They are often ranked #1 in terms of both security and customer service by independent auditors, as well as from my personal findings. The fees are reasonable, and Kraken is a great Coinbase alternative that has become popular with Futures traders and offers more robust trading functionality.

Speaking of spot trading, Kraken Pro fees for makers go from 0.25% (with $0 - $10,000 trading volume) to as low as 0% (with $10,000,000+ trading volume). Taker fees, on the other hand, go from 0.04% (with $0 - $10,000 trading volume) to 0.1% (with $10,000,000+ trading volume).

The fee schedule is based on your 30-day rolling volume meaning that the more you trade, the lower your fees are on subsequent trades.

It's also important to do a thorough cryptocurrency exchange fee comparison. Analysing this metric in this Kraken vs Coinbase comparison, it's clear that Coinbase has the lowest trading fee percentage of Up to 0.6%, while the second place goes to Kraken with a fee of Up to 0.26%.

Kraken's Disadvantages

Kraken's beginner trading program, Instant Buy, has some pretty hefty trading fees, and unfortunately, beginning crypto investors may not even be aware of how uncompetitive these fees are.

When cybersecurity researchers break the law, destroy their reputation, and make the bug-bounty research community look bad. TL:DR Researchers found a vulnerability in a cryptocurrency exchange. They notified the company, but then exploited the bug to steal millions.

Kraken remains one of the very few leading regulated exchanges that has never been breached. Nevertheless, it's recommended that users never hold all their funds on any single crypto exchange. With DeFi protocols, a user's assets are held in smart contracts written and deployed by a protocol's development team.

As a result, the SEC argued that Kraken's staking program was an unregistered security and that it should have filed a registration with the SEC. The SEC's November 2023 lawsuit was similar to the previous lawsuit, but it also alleged that Kraken had failed to register its spot trading platform as an exchange.

Is Kraken good for futures? ›

Kraken Futures, provided by a trusted cryptocurrency exchange, is a trading instrument that allows you to unlock the profit potential of your crypto investments. The exchange offers over 95 perpetual futures to choose from, making Kraken Futures suitable for traders of all levels.

International users can partake in futures trading or margin trading on both platforms, whereas U.S. residents can perform various other transaction types. However, Kraken supports margin trading for U.S. users, as well.

Kraken offers stable and predictable fees for margin trades. Depending on the margin pair you're trading, you are charged between 0.01% and 0.02% to open a position. Rollover fees of the same amount occur every 4 hours the position remains open.

Our standard service fee is 25% for ETH; 30% for ADA, ATOM, DOT, SOL, and XTZ; and, up to 35% for other assets. See our Terms for more info. Processing fees are applicable for other services you use, such as Deposit Recovery.

Analysing this metric in this Kraken vs Crypto.com comparison, it's clear that Kraken has the lowest trading fee percentage of Up to 0.26%, while the second place goes to Crypto.com with a fee of 0.16%.