Kraken Review (October 2026): Fees, US States and Licenses

Our verdict

Kraken, operated in the US by Payward Interactive, Inc., accepts residents of every state except New York and Maine. Kraken Pro starts at 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker; instant buys cost 1% plus a spread. US clients also get commission-free stocks, CFTC-regulated perpetual futures and spot margin up to 3x. Its latest Proof of Reserves is dated June 30, 2026.

Kraken fees

Maker / taker

0.40% / 0.80%

Simple buy

1% fee on instant and recurring buys (1.5% on custom orders) plus a spread; payment-method fees are extra

Volume tiers

Kraken Pro tiers use the better of 30-day volume or assets on platform: 0.30%/0.60% from $2.5K, 0.22%/0.38% from $10K, down to 0.00%/0.05% at $500M+. Stablecoin and FX pairs start at 0.20%/0.20%. Kraken+ members pay zero trading fees on up to $10,000 a month of buy/sell/convert orders.

ACH deposit

Free ($1 minimum, near-instant via Plaid)

Wire deposit

Free by Fedwire ($1 minimum)

Card purchase

Debit card deposit: 3.75% + $0.25

USD withdrawal

ACH free; Fedwire $4; instant RTP 1.5% (max $50)

Crypto withdrawal

— Not verified

Other fees

Margin opening and rollover fees of 0.01%-0.05% per 4 hours; 2% margin liquidation fee; PayPal deposits carry processing fees

Minimum deposit

$1

Is Kraken available in my state?

Kraken's licensing page (checked Oct 5, 2026) says it does not offer services to residents of Maine and New York; other states are served, with transfer restrictions in a few.

• AL available
• AK available
• AZ available
• AR available
• CA available
• CO available
• CT available
• DE available
• DC available
• FL available
• GA available
• HI available
• ID available
• IL available
• IN available
• IA available
• KS available
• KY available
• LA available
• ME not available
• MD available
• MA available
• MI available
• MN available
• MS available
• MO available
• MT available
• NE available
• NV available
• NH available
• NJ available
• NM available
• NY not available
• NC available
• ND available
• OH available
• OK available
• OR available
• PA available
• RI available
• SC available
• SD available
• TN available
• TX available
• UT available
• VT available
• VA available
• WA available
• WV available
• WI available
• WY available

Kraken's licensing page says 'fiat transfers' are not available in IN, LA, MA and UT and 'crypto transfers' are not available in IN (scope not defined on the page); TX and NH residents cannot hold or trade EUR. Krak debit card excludes NY, ME, MA and IN. Stocks (Kraken Equities) not available in all states.

New York

No

ID check (KYC)

Yes

Withdraw crypto

Yes

Funding

ACH, Wire, Debit card, PayPal, Crypto

Is Kraken regulated?

• FinCEN MSB
• NMLS 1843762
• CFTC
• SEC / FINRA
• Bank charter

US operator

Payward Interactive, Inc. d/b/a Kraken

Parent company

Payward, Inc.

State licenses

Payward Interactive, Inc. lists money transmitter licenses in about 44 states plus DC and Puerto Rico; New York and Maine are not on the list (Hawaii, Indiana, Massachusetts and Montana also do not appear)

New York license

None

CFTC / NFA

FCM: NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC d/b/a Kraken Derivatives US (NFA ID 0309379); acquired derivatives venue Bitnomial (closed May 2026)

SEC / FINRA

Kraken Securities LLC (SEC-registered broker-dealer, FINRA/SIPC member); Kraken Adviser LLC (SEC-registered investment adviser)

Bank charter

Wyoming SPDI (Kraken Financial)

Other

FinCEN MSB registration no. 31000270997766. IPO: confidential draft registration filed Nov 2025, paused March 2026, not listed as of Sept 2026.

Founded

2011

Headquarters

San Francisco, CA, USA

How secure is Kraken?

Proof of reserves

Yes - recurring attestation by an independent accounting firm (not named on the page); latest as of June 30, 2026 (BTC 102.9%, ETH 100.5%)

Audits

— Not verified

Insurance

Kraken's US disclosures state digital assets and Kraken accounts are not insured against losses and are not FDIC- or SIPC-protected; Kraken Securities LLC is a SIPC member for securities.

Incidents since 2019

• 2023settlementPaid $30 million to the SEC in February 2023 and agreed to end its US staking program at the time.
• 2025enforcementThe SEC agreed in March 2025 to drop its lawsuit that had sought to treat Kraken as an unregistered securities exchange.
• 2022settlementSettled with OFAC in 2022 for about $362,000, plus $100,000 in sanctions-compliance investments, over apparent sanctions violations.
• 2021settlementPaid a $1.25 million CFTC penalty in 2021 over unregistered margin trading.

Crypto held on a platform is not covered by FDIC or SIPC insurance.

What you can do on Kraken

• Spot
• Advanced trading
• Staking
• Futures
• Perpetuals
• Margin
• Recurring buys
• Stocks & ETFs
• Crypto card
• Self-custody wallet
• API

US futures are 16 Bitnomial perpetual futures contracts on Kraken Pro, cleared through Kraken Derivatives US (CFTC-registered FCM). Kraken Borrow (launched Sept 24, 2026) gives spot margin up to 3x in 48 states. Commission-free trading in 11,000+ US stocks and ETFs through Kraken Securities. Flare staking and Opt-In Rewards (non-accredited) are not offered in the US. The Krak debit card (Lead Bank, Visa) is described as rolling out.

Apps

Web, iOS, Android

Support

Phone, Help center