Disclaimer: This page is not financial advice or an endorsement of digital assets, providers or services. Digital assets are volatile and risky, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. Potential regulations or policies can affect their availability and services provided. Talk with a financial professional before making a decision. Finder or the author may own cryptocurrency discussed on this page.
Kraken and KuCoin are different cryptocurrency exchanges with their own unique approach to providing crypto services to their customers. In general, Kraken has a focus on quality and security, whereas KuCoin has a focus on quantity and diversity of services. KuCoin is one of the most used exchanges in the world and Kraken focuses on maximizing its usefulness to professional traders.
Round 1: Kraken vs. KuCoin on vital statistics
Kraken focuses on maximizing security, compliance and usefulness to professional traders in developed countries. Its main clientele is in North America and Europe. Kraken has reasonable fees across all its services and is FCA registered in the United States. KuCoin, on the other hand, offers the full range of cryptocurrency services such as lending and margin/derivatives trading with high leverage. In terms of which exchange is better for beginners, Kraken has a simpler interface, fee structure and fewer services. Simplicity is better for most newcomers to cryptocurrency.
KuCoin offers vastly more cryptocurrencies than Kraken. This is part of its core offering as it markets itself as a cryptocurrency exchange that is constantly up to date with the latest digital assets. Kraken focuses on providing lots of volume to its relatively smaller number of offered cryptocurrencies. If a beginner is looking for diversity, then KuCoin is the better option.
Kraken focuses on providing cryptocurrency services to a small number of countries, while KuCoin tries to be as global as possible. As such, KuCoin accepts many more fiat currencies than Kraken. The ease in which fiat currencies can be deposited into KuCoin varies based on the fiat currency. Contrast this to Kraken where each fiat currency deposit method is fairly well fleshed out.
Kraken has a more complex fees and costs structure than KuCoin. KuCoin allows users to unlock cheaper fees based on how many KCS (KuCoin Shares) the user is holding. Kraken gives discounts based on monthly trading volume. Apart from discounts being less accessible on Kraken than KuCoin, there are different fee structures for purchases made through the app, Kraken Pro, futures and stablecoins. KuCoin only has differing fees for spot and futures. Both exchanges charge no fees for cryptocurrency deposits, though Kraken charges an address setup fee for some assets. Both have comparable rates when withdrawing fiat and cryptocurrency.
Deposit Fees
ACH deposit - Fees vary ($10 minimum deposit) Credit and debit card - Fees vary ($10 minimum deposit) Apple Pay or Google Pay - Fees vary ($10 minimum deposit) Crypto - Free
None
Trading Fee
Maker: 0-0.16% Taker: 0.1-0.26%
Maker: -0.005-0.1% Taker: 0.02-0.1%
Withdrawal Fees
FedWire withdrawal - $4-$35 Crypto - Fees vary depending on coin or token
Cryptocurrency: Fees vary
Deposit methods
Bank transfer, Credit card, Cryptocurrency, Debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, SWIFT, ACH online banking
Bank transfer, Credit card, Cryptocurrency, Debit card, PayPal, P2P, Zelle
KuCoin has built its own non-custodial wallet for mobile devices. The wallet allows users to hold a wide range of cryptocurrencies including its signature token KCS. Kraken does not have its own wallet, but is a big proponent of the ethos, “not your keys, not your coins.” So although it doesn’t build its own wallet, Kraken encourages its users to use non-custodial wallets.
Winner: KuCoin
Round 6: Ease of use
Both the KuCoin and Kraken user interfaces can be confusing for crypto beginners. Neither one is exceptionally easy to understand. So to determine a winner for the ease of use round, we can look at the learning portals created by both companies. Kraken and KuCoin publish educational material and tutorials for using their services. Since Kraken offers fewer features at a higher quality than KuCoin, it is easier to use for crypto beginners.
Winner: Kraken
Round 7: Security
Kraken is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world and has never been hacked. It promotes self-insurance, meaning it has set aside company funds in the event it’s hacked and needs to reimburse users. KuCoin has been hacked before and has since made improvements to its security standards.
Winner: Kraken
Kraken vs. KuCoin winner: Kraken
The winner of the Kraken vs. KuCoin contest is Kraken as it won 4 of the 7 rounds. Kraken may lack in the number of cryptocurrencies it offers, but this is less important for crypto beginners anyway. Its approach is to offer high-quality features and services and make its system as simple as possible for both new and experienced users. This ethos is reflected in its adherence to security practices and the slim but high-quality nature of its service offerings.
Go to
Kraken's website
Disclaimer: This page is not financial advice or an endorsement of digital assets, providers or services. Digital assets are volatile and risky, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. Potential regulations or policies can affect their availability and services provided. Talk with a financial professional before making a decision. Finder or the author may own cryptocurrency discussed on this page.
Whether products shown are available to you is subject to individual provider sole approval and discretion in accordance with the eligibility criteria and T&Cs on the provider website.
Keegan Francis was a cryptocurrency writer for Finder. He has been invested in cryptocurrencies since 2013 and writing about them since 2018. He has written and edited for CryptoVantage. In 2020 he and his wife Mrugakshee Palwe opted entirely out of the world of traditional finance and went "full crypto", covering their experience in the Go Full Crypto podcast and via a Substack newsletter. Keegan holds a Bachelor of Computer Science from Acadia University, and has attained graduate certificates from Ivan On Tech's lightning network course and the Consensys Academy Ethereum bootcamp. When Keegan is not working on cryptocurrency, he enjoys travelling, rock climbing and playing piano.
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