Kraken and Coinbase are two popular crypto exchanges available on the internet. Both the exchanges make it super easy to buy and sell crypto. Both of them have been in the business for a long time now and serve millions of users worldwide.
However, as crypto traders or crypto investors, which platform should you choose between these two? As there are too many things to take into consideration.
To help you make the right decision, I will share a Kraken vs Coinbase comparison. So let’s get into the topic right away:
Introduction: Kraken vs Coinbase
What is Kraken?
Kraken cryptocurrency exchange is one of the oldest yet best crypto leverage trading platform in US, launched in 2011. Right now, it is serving millions of users around the globe and offering some of the best trading features.
With Kraken, you can enjoy a safe and easy way to buy cryptos such as Ethereum, Bitcoin, and other crypto coins as well as using your local fiat currency.
Both beginners and experienced traders can use the trading platform. Plus, Kraken offers you low trading fees, an advanced trading terminal, etc.
Kraken users can also use the exchange for spot, margin trading and futures trading with up to 5x leverage. Plus, you can buy your favourite crypto using various payment methods.
What is Coinbase?
Coinbase is also one of the trusted cryptocurrency exchanges out there. Using the platform, you can buy some popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and others.
It is a leading crypto exchange to build your crypto portfolio, earn rewards, stay up to date with crypto news, and easily browse the crypto market.
You can use Coinbase to buy crypto instantly. Just link your bank account or debit card. Also, apart from buying/selling crypto, you can securely send/receive crypto with external digital wallets.
You can also earn a yield on cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, and it also supports a wide range of payment methods.
Kraken vs Coinbase: Supported Cryptocurrencies
Supported cryptocurrency is an important area to look for while choosing a cryptocurrency day trading exchange. If an exchange has a limited number of supported coins, you won’t be able to invest in newer interesting crypto projects.
Kraken
When it comes to comparison supported coins comparison, Kraken supports more cryptocurrencies than Coinbase.
The exchange supports about 120 cryptocurrencies. Also, newer cryptocurrencies keep getting listed on the exchange from time to time. So you can invest in mainstream cryptocurrencies and the newer crypto projects as well.
Kraken can be used to trade cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc.
Coinbase
Coinbase only had a few crypto coins for you to trade for a long time. However, in today’s time, the company has increased its supported crypto list, and now it supports 100+ crypto assets.
However, the Coinbase platform is essentially a crypto portfolio management solution. As a result, it did not offer you advanced trading options like margin or derivatives trading.
But now that the company has acquired LMX labs which is a CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange. Coinbase has introduced Coinbase Derivatives.
Winner: So the winner, in this case, would be Kraken as it not only supports more number of coins. Plus, you will get to trade in other crypto products like crypto derivatives.
Kraken vs Coinbase: Trading Fees
Trading fees are another important factor to consider while choosing a crypto exchange. If an exchange charges way too much for trades, you will end up making less money.
Kraken
Talking about Kraken fees, it has one of the lowest trading fees in the market. For spot trading, you have to pay a maker and taker fees of 0.16% and 0.26% for a trading volume of between $0 – $50,000. Also, the higher your overall trading volume is, the lesser fee you will have to pay.
For futures trading, the maker and taker fees are 0.0200% and 0.0500%, respectively, for 30 days of trading between $0 – $100,000.
Also, the margin trading fee depends on different factors like the base currency, your quote currency, and others.
Talking about withdrawal fees, it completely depends on what currency you are withdrawing from, and you will enjoy both free and paid withdrawals.
Coinbase
Coming to Coinbase fees, it has a higher trading fee compared to Kraken. For spot trading, you will have to pay the maker and taker fee of 0.60% and 0.40% when you trade between $0 – 10K.
Additionally, Coinbase incurs and pays the network transaction fee. Also, Coinbase charges you withdrawal fees depending on the withdrawal method.
Winner: So, if you wish to enjoy lesser trading fees when purchasing crypto, Kraken would be a better choice.
Kraken vs Coinbase: Account Funding Methods
Both Kraken and Coinbase support different ways to fund your accounts. Both the exchanges allow debit or credit card purchases.
Kraken
On one side, Kraken lets you deposit funds using crypto and supported fiat currencies. It supports many coins that you can use for depositing funds into your account.
It even supports different fiat currencies. Like you can make USD deposits using a bank account, debit and credit card purchases, and other local payment gateways.
You can use options like wire transfer and Etana custody for EUR deposits. Also, you will find a suitable payment gateway available in your region for other fiat currencies.
Coinbase
Coinbase offers you different account funding methods as well. For instance, you can deposit crypto, stablecoins, and fiat currencies.
However, the availability of fiat currency deposit methods depends on your country of residence. But if you are based out of the USA, you can enjoy payment method options like Bank transfers ACH, instant cash-out, debit or credit card purchases, wire transfer, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and many others.
Winner: Overall, both of the exchanges are pretty equal in this case. They let you deposit funds using fiat currencies, debit or credit cards, and other supported payment method options.
Kraken vs Coinbase: Spot Trading
Kraken & Coinbase both support spot trading, and they come with their own set of features.
Kraken
If we talk about Kraken, it allows you to trade in more than 120 cryptocurrencies. Also, it features an advanced trading platform with different charting tools, which makes your trading experience pretty great.
On top of that, Kraken has a tiered fee structure for spot trading, one of the lowest. Plus, the spot trading market of Kraken is backed by high trading volume. So your trades get executed right away.
Coinbase
On the other hand, Coinbase offers one of the most liquid and regulated crypto spot exchange markets. With this, you will enjoy a low cost of execution leveraging and a dynamic fee structure for high-volume trading.
Additionally, you also get access to a feature-rich trading terminal, which will allow you to execute your trades easily. Also, if you are not an advanced trader but are one of the new crypto investors, you can easily buy/sell crypto using Coinbase.
Kraken vs Coinbase: Margin & Derivatives Trading
Margin and derivatives trading are two of the preferred trading options by advanced traders as it allows them to trade at a larger scale with borrowed funds. So advanced traders can grow their profit while investing little money.
Coinbase
Coinbase does not allow you to trade in futures or use margin trading currently. The company has recently acquired FairFX; a CFTC regulated derivates exchange. So, they are not offering derivatives trading services, but they will do so soon enough.
Kraken
On the other hand, Kraken offers to place long and short positions in the crypto market and enjoy up to 5x leverage.
Plus, Kraken charges you a low rollover fee, and there is no need for you to pay more than 0.2$ per 4 hours in rollover fees.
Kraken also supports margin trading for a wide range of cryptocurrencies such as ALGO, DOGE, EOS, ETH, ADA, BTC, and more.
For Kraken futures trading, it offers you only five perpetual inverse contracts: XRP/USD, BCH/USD, XBT/USD, ETH/USD, and LTC/USD. Also, for futures trading, you are getting leverage up to 50x.
Winner: The clear winner, in this case, is Kraken. Since Coinbase is already out of the race by not letting you participate in margin trading or derivatives trading.
Kraken vs Coinbase: Mobile App
Crypto exchange mobile apps help you with your portfolio management and offer you an easy way to buy/sell crypto and stay up to date with what’s happening in the crypto market.
Both Kraken and Coinbase have a user-friendly mobile app that takes care of all your trading needs.
Kraken
With the Kraken mobile app, you can easily buy or sell crypto and use preset amounts to create market orders with a single tap. Also, you can set up custom orders using a simple form. Also, you will get an exact price quote before you buy or sell your crypto.
The Kraken mobile app is designed to help you with your portfolio management. It comes with a simple graphic that shows the investment allocation and your total balance.
You can also review the value of each of your investments and the %of your portfolio. As well, it has many other useful features.
Coinbase
The Coinbase mobile app is also rich in features. You can buy/sell or convert your crypto coins instantly using the app. It also makes it easy to buy crypto and earn a yield on your crypto asset.
The app offers you an easy-to-use, customizable portfolio management tool. You can also set up automatic buys and price alerts.
You will also be getting a crypto tracker and dashboard where you can monitor your favourite cryptocurrency prices.
You can also use the Bitcoin ticker to track the latest trends in Bitcoins. Also, it keeps you up to date with the latest news around crypto and enhances your crypto knowledge.
Winner: In terms of app features, Coinbase is a better option. If you are interested in building up your crypto portfolio, the Coinbase app will help you with its insights and tools.
Kraken vs Coinbase: Opening Account & Account Limits
Kraken and Coinbase both have an easy account opening process. You can open a crypto trading account within a few minutes and complete the KYC verification process. Once done, you can deposit funds using a bank transfer and start trading.
Kraken
However, when it comes to verification, Kraken has four levels of verification stages: Starter, Express, Intermediate, and Pro. The starter and express KYC levels don’t require you to complete KYC, and in return, you will get a deposit limit of $9K in a lifetime and withdraw up to $9k a month.
But as an unverified user, you will not get access to features such as margin trading, futures trading, staking rewards, etc.
Coinbase
On the other hand, Coinbase does not allow you to bypass the KYC verification process. You must go through the KYC verification to use their services, which is done to prevent fraud.
Also, Coinbase will ask you to verify your identity from time to time for making any account-related changes.
Anyway, to get started with the exchanges, you can follow the below steps:
Open Kraken Account
- Go to Kraken’s official website kraken.com.
- Click on Create Account button from the upper-right corner.
- Next, enter your details and create a username and password.
- Verify your email address.
- Next, complete the KYC verification process.
- Finally, deposit funds to your Kraken account using bank transfer or other payment methods to start trading.
Open Coinbase Account
- Go to Coinbase.com and click on Get Started button.
- Enter your name and email address and set up a password.
- Verify your email address.
- Next, set up two-step verification using your phone number.
- Next, submit your govt ID to complete KYC.
- Once done, deposit funds using bank transfer or other deposit methods.
Winner: The winner for this section would be Kraken. It offers you different levels of KYC, so you choose a KYC level as per your requirements and do not necessarily need to complete KYC if you don’t want to.
Kraken vs Coinbase Ease Of Use & Interface
Both cryptocurrency exchange platforms are pretty easy to use and have a great user interface.
Kraken
Kraken comes with a great trading interface. With the exchange, you are getting a proprietary charting system that covers the entire left side of the trading terminal. Also, it offers you advanced trading features like a market order, stop/loss, and others.
TradingView inspires the trading terminal. As a result, you get all the charting features for your trading needs. However, you might feel that it lacks some features. But you can always TradingView to view Kraken trading pairs. To learn more about the exchange, you can also read our Kraken tutorial.
Coinbase
Similarly, Coinbase also has an easy way to execute trades. You can easily switch between trade and advanced trade. The trade section lets you buy/sell crypto without any hassle.
But if you want to trade at a deeper level, see different trading pairs. The advanced trade is where you need to go.
In the Advanced trade section, you will find a long list of trading pairs. Simply select a pair to start trading in it.
The charting system is pretty basic, with basic trading tools that you will need. However, there is no TradingView integration. But it will do the job.
Winner: Kraken is a better option for easy trading as it offers you much more trading tools than Coinbase. Also, you can view Kraken trading pairs on TradingView. So you can plan out your trades in a better way.
Coinbase vs Kraken: Security Features.
Kraken and Coinbase are two of the most popular crypto exchanges out there. Both the exchanges take their security very seriously, and hence they have implemented industry-standard security measures.
For instance, Both the exchanges keep most of their funds in the offline store. So there is a very low risk of your funds being stolen. Plus, as Kraken or Coinbase users, you are getting many features to protect your account.
- Kraken
For instance, Kraken provides features like security key two-factor authentication with Google Authenticator and Yubikey. And most importantly, it does not provide you with a phone/SMS account recovery option.
Kraken also requires additional email confirmations for withdrawals and configurable account timeout for an extra layer of protection.
Plus, Kraken keeps 95% of its funds in cold storage. But unfortunately, your funds are not protected by FDIC insurance.
- Coinbase
Similarly, Coinbase is also one of the secure crypto trading platforms. It has one of the most advanced and robust security systems. Also, the exchange has never been hacked, and they are known to keep 98% of the user funds in cold storage.
Additionally, Coinbase requires 2FA verification when signing in and requires biometric fingerprints for private keys, security keys, and so on.
Also, since Coinbase is a USA-based company, crypto traders enjoy FDIC insurance coverage of up to $250,000.
Winner: In terms of security, Coinbase is a better exchange because it does not have a history of hacks. Plus, your funds are secured under a federal deposit insurance corporation.
Coinbase vs Kraken:Customer Support
Customer support is extremely important for any exchange. If an exchange fails to offer quick customer support, it is better to avoid it.
Luckily, both crypto exchanges offer you quick customer support and solve your queries at the earliest.
- Kraken
Talking about Kraken, Kraken provides you chat and phone support. So you can get your issue solved right away.
Kraken also offers you the option to raise a support ticker, and they will get back to you with all the details.
Apart from these, they have a support centre for commonly asked questions. Over here, you will find in-depth guides for commonly faced issues or questions.
- Coinbase
Coinbase also offers you similar support gateways as Kraken. They have support phone numbers for different regions like the USA, UK, Ireland, and India. Along with that, you can also get support through chat.
You can additionally raise a support ticket and explain your issue, and they will get back to you at the soonest.
Like Kraken, Coinbase has a help centre where you will find answers to the most commonly asked questions or issues faced.
Winner: In this Coinbase vs Kraken comparison, there is a tie between the exchanges. As both of them offers similar customer support features.
Is Kraken Safe?
Kraken is a safe crypto exchange that you can use. It is one of the oldest crypto exchanges, operational in 176 countries and 48 US states.
Plus, on Kraken, you can trade more than 120 crypto coins. Kraken also keeps 95% of funds in cold storage and offers you tons of security features. All of these make Kraken a definitely a great and secure platform to trade crypto.
Is Coinbase Safe?
Coinbase is also one of the safest crypto exchanges out there. The company is based in the USA and has a mandatory KYC verification policy for all users. Plus, the company has implemented industry-standard security features to make the exchange as secure as possible.
Also, it keeps 98% of traders’ funds in cold storage and offers you user-centric security features like 2FA, security keys, and others. And all of these give any crypto trader a safe trading experience.
Conclusion
So that was all about Kraken and Coinbase.
The exchanges offer you different trading products, purchase crypto, have lower fees, and support various fund deposit options like cryptocurrency bank transfer, credit/debit cards, etc.
However, in terms of features, Kraken is far better than Coinbase.
As it offers lower fees, and unlike Coinbase, Kraken offers you futures and margin trading. In contrast, Coinbase is only limited to spot trading for now.
Check how Coinbase & Kraken compares to other similar crypto exchanges:
- Coinbase vs ByBit
- Coinbase vs Bitmex
- Coinbase vs Bitfinex
- Kraken vs Binance
- Kraken vs Bitmex
- Kraken vs Bittrex
