Kraken
Key Data
- Trading Name: Kraken
- Legal Entity: Payward, Inc.
Payward Ventures, Inc.
Payward Ltd
Bit Trade Pty Limited
Payward Canada Inc. - Activities: Crypto exchanges
- Location: United States, Canada, United Kingdom
- Regulations: regulated in the US, Europe, Australia, Middle East
- Key People: Jesse Powell
- PCI DSS Compliance
Kraken is one of the leading crypto exchanges with regulatory authorizations in the U.S., U.K., and select Asian Pacific jurisdictions, U.S.-based Kraken caters toward intermediate and advanced crypto traders. It has a banking license from the US state of Wyoming though it has not launched operations.
Kraken is a crypto exchange founded in 2011 in San Francisco with offices around the world. It supports customers in over 190 countries. Kraken supports individual and institutional investors with competitively priced cryptocurrency trading.
Offering
Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that caters to both retail and institutional clients. Kraken allows users to buy, sell, and margin trade Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in exchange with EUR, USD, CAD, GBP, and JPY.
Kraken Pro is an active trading platform that works through your web browser or smartphone. While the interface may be intimidating to crypto and trading newbies, it could be worth learning. It includes more detailed asset information including active charts and a view into open orders.
Customer Service
Kraken support is available 24 hours a day via live chat, phone, and email. We had a minor issue changing an account setting (mostly due to user error) and sent in a support ticket. Kraken staff responded and resolved the problem in about 20 minutes.
Fees
Kraken charges a variable fee rate that ranges from 0% to 0.26% depending on the trading pair and the user’s trading volume
People
Jesse Powell: Founder & CEO
Customer review
Kraken has received mixed reviews from its customers. Some users have praised Kraken for its security measures, low trading fees, and wide range of available cryptocurrencies. Others have criticized Kraken for its customer support.
Trustpilot: 2,7 Stars with 2000+ Reviews
Regulation
- North America
To serve clients in the United States, Kraken maintains a registration as a Money Services Business with FinCEN (‘Payward Ventures, Inc.’, MSB Registration No. 31000239561651).
Kraken Bank is further supervised by the Wyoming Division of Banking under a Special Purpose Depository Institution charter (‘Payward Financial, Inc.’, Charter No. 269), to carry out certain interstate, digital asset-related services.
To serve clients in Canada, Kraken maintains registration as a Money Services Business with FINTRAC (‘Payward Canada, Inc.’, MSB Registration No. M19343731).
- Europe
In the United Kingdom, Kraken operates locally as a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Registered Cryptoasset Firm (‘Payward Ltd.’, FRN 928768) under the Money Laundering Regulations.
To offer certain crypto asset-related services to eligible clients, Kraken also maintains through its subsidiary ‘Crypto Facilities Ltd.’, a FCA Authorised Investment Firm (FRN 757895), with the following permissions for:
-
Operating a Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF)
-
Arranging Deals in Investments
-
Dealing in Investments as Agent
-
Safeguarding & Administration of Assets
- APAC
In Australia, Kraken maintains local operations as a registered Digital Currency Exchange (DCE) with AUSTRAC (‘Bit Trade Pty Ltd.’, ABN 42 163 237 634 & ACN 163 237 634).
- Middle East
In the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Kraken maintains local operations under a Financial Services Permission (FSP) by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) to carry out the Regulated Activities of Providing Custody in relation to Digital Assets and Operating a Multilateral Trading Facility (‘Payward MENA Holdings Ltd.’, FSP No. 190008).
News
On February 9, 2023, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken agreed to pay $30 million in penalties and shut down its staking business in a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result of this settlement, Kraken will end staking services to U.S. clients. Non-U.S. Kraken customers will be able to continue staking their crypto assets through a separate Kraken subsidiary.
In September 2023, Kraken received a European e-money license from the Central Bank of Ireland and a virtual asset service provider registration from the Bank of Spain.
With the EMI license, Kraken can now expand its EUR fiat services with European banking partners in both the European Union and the European Economic Area.
The VASP registration in Spain allows Kraken to offer both exchange and wallet services to Spanish residents.
Conclusion
Due to the critical situation on the crypto market, the problems with the SEC as well as the bad trustpilot ratings, we downgrade kraken to ORANGE:
