What is Kraken?

It is a conventional centralized exchange that offers different possibilities of use. For example, Kraken provides the purchase or sale of cryptocurrencies via fiat and cryptocurrency exchange to cryptocurrency. In addition, this exchange is one of the most prestigious because it has been operating for many years and offers a lot of Security.

The Kraken exchange was found in 2011 by Jesse Powell in San Francisco, Unit States, after Mt. Gox was hacke and a malicious attacker allegedly stole the funds. However, it did not start allowing Bitcoin and Litecoin trading until 2013, two years after it was found. Note that in 2015 they added the possibility to buy, sell and exchange Ethereum.

Why has Kraken Become Popular?

The reasons why Kraken has become such a necessary exchange are several. One of the main reasons is that in 2014 it was chosen, along with Coinbase, to offer Bitcoin trading data within the Bloomberg panel. This partnership with the leading market data provider has seen Kraken gain traction with the trading community. Thus, Bloomberg clients could access Bitcoin prices, charts, news and other information through the services of this platform.

Soon after, Kraken partnered with the world leader in charting service TradingView. I later added new cryptocurrencies to the trading platform and added buying and trading with fiat currencies like USC, GBP, and JPY.

How to Create an Account on Kraken?

Creating an account on the Kraken trading platform is quite simple. To make the account, we only need an email address, enter our username and a password of 12 characters with a capital letter, a number and a symbol. Once we have it, we accept the terms and conditions of Kraken and thus create the account. Now an activation link will be sent to our email, which we must press so that our account becomes activate.

Once we are register, we will be ask to verify our account. There are three levels of account activation that allow us to access more or more minor services and adjustments to the deposit and withdrawal limits. Depending on what we want to do, we must activate one level or another.

Types of User Levels Within Kraken

Exchanges usually have different user levels that depend on the level of personal information they provide and the volume of operations.

Kraken in this sense, is no exception, these levels being the following:

Elementary Level

Basic registration system where we have to offer an email address. The user can only browse the exchange and explore the interface and its operation within this level. The user of this level is not allow to carry out operations within the platform.

Basic Level

For this level, the user must provide personal information such as full name, date of birth, country of residence and telephone number. Users at this level can only make cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals. They are allow to trade with cryptocurrencies and fiat money. Cryptocurrency withdrawals are limit to US$2,500 per day or US$20,000 per month.

Intermediate Level

This level requires verification of identity through legal documents, such as a passport, ID or similar. Fiat currency deposits and withdrawals are enabled here, but this depends on the country of residence. We can make deposits in the fiat currency of 100,000 US dollars per day or 500,000 US dollars per month. Regarding withdrawals in cryptocurrencies, a limit of 500,000 US dollars per day is established, with no monthly limit. Within this level, we can also trade futures.

Pro Level

Government identification (DNI, passport or similar) and recent proof of residence (electricity bill, telephone bill or equivalent) are require to access this level. Deposits and withdrawals with fiat currency, as well as for cryptocurrencies, are unlimited. To deposit and withdraw fiat money in the United States, Canada, Japan and Germany, the “Pro Level” is require to be able to deposit and withdraw fiat currency. In addition to trading futures, as in the previous level, we can also trade OTC.

User support

Kraken additionally offers 24/7 user support, either via email or online chat. Unfortunately, there remains no phone number to contact them.

We have to point out that users complain that the support offered by the platform is rather alarming. It is a disease of the vast majority of exchanges, which do not usually provide support to match. Above all, users point out that the response time by email is quite delayed.

What Problems has Kraken Had?

Although it is one of the most critical exchanges globally, not everything has been rosy. While Kraken hasn’t experienced any asset theft, it has had some issues.

In May 2017, Kraken and Poloniex suffered Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. These attacks generated losses for those who operated on these two exchange platforms. Shortly after that, a class-action lawsuit was file against Kraken, seeking more than $5 million in losses from the mishandling of the DDoS attack.

What Security does Kraken Offer?

It is one of the most important exchanges, among others, because of the significant security measures they implement. Remember that Kraken was born after the Mt. Gox disaster and the serious security flaws that led to the theft of all the assets of that exchange.

Powell was clear that to gain users’ trust, he had to offer a secure and transparent platform. Kraken is one of the first user asset custody exchanges with proof of reserve audit. Something that makes this exchange platform highly safe for users.

Conclusion

The Kraken cryptocurrency exchange platform offers high-security measures to protect user assets. These security measures are possibly the most extreme currently within the exchange platforms. Nevertheless, it has allowed the platform to gain popularity by offering critical security measures and a backup of its funds. Something that we must take into account is that the platform has never suffered a hack.

Perhaps the most damaging aspect of the platform is the high commissions in terms of trading. The platform has no fiat and cryptocurrency deposit fees. However, they have a cryptocurrency withdrawal fee and a fiat withdrawal fee, although the latter is fix.