Kraken vs Binance 2022 (Which Platform To Choose?)

Kraken and Binance are both cryptocurrency trading platforms that both ranks in the top 10 largest exchanges, and each offer something unique.

At A Glance

Kraken is the best option when you are making a choice between Binance vs Kraken. Both Kraken and Binance are crypto exchange platforms allowing investors to buy, sell, and exchange cryptocurrencies, stable coins, and tokens. International users can use either platform for margin trading or futures trading. Only Kraken supports U.S. residents in margins trading. However, U.S. residents can perform various other transactions in both applications.

Both Kraken and Binance have low fees, education, advanced trading, and the ability for active investors to watch the market. However, Kraken provides greater transparency, more robust security, and a good amount of currencies to U.S. residents. For these reasons and more, Kraken is the favorite when making the Binance vs Kraken platform comparison.

How the Best Choice Was Determined

When considering which of the two platforms is the better option for you, we looked at all of the various features each application offers, and we compared them. We verified that the information we used was factual and valid before using it to compare the platforms. In addition, we sought to understand all of the user feedback, pricing, and the service features of both platforms. While feedback is vital, it is also valuable to understand the input to ensure that there are no false claims being made. Therefore, we believe it is crucial for us to dig into the features to understand what each platform provides to traders fully.

It is apparent that Kraken is the winner for ease of use and features, which we have outlined for you here in this article.

Comparison

Kraken Overview

Kraken is a San Francisco based exchange platform that has been in existence since 2011. It did not go live until 2013. The Kraken platform is almost as old as Bitcoin itself. Kraken is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the United States. It has the ultimate security options along with advanced tools for trading and a variety of possible currencies to trade. In addition to all of this, Kraken gives you the ability to earn some rewards.

Pros:

Highest security available
Well tested exchange
It has a mobile app
Allows traders to use the most popular tokens for trade
High quality customer service

Cons:

Some states within the US have only restricted access to the app
Traders cannot use debit cards or credit cards
Five day verification process for accounts

Binance Overview

Binance caters to the investor that has some experience and knowledge with trading. It has advanced features, such as stake crypto, placing market orders, and other transaction types. Unfortunately, some of these transaction types are not available to U.S. residents.

Binance offers more than 500 currencies. The maximum daily trading amount limit changes based on the specific cryptocurrency. It has a mobile app that is available on Android and iOS.

Pros:

Low trading fees
They accept deposits via ACH and debit card
Offers a wide variety of coins

Cons:

Less transparency around security
User interface may overwhelm beginners
Fewer options for U.S. residents

Currency

Kraken offers a multitude of coins, approximately 69, and that includes three stable coins. These coins include USD Coin (USDC), DAI (DAI), and Tether (USDT). Kraken also accepts seven fiat currencies, which include USD, EUR, CAD, AUD, GBP, CHF, and JPY. U.S. investors are limited to just 52 coins.

Binance, on the other hand, supports well over 500 coins for international users. It also offers many stable coins, which include DAI, Tether, and Binance USD (BUSD). Binance also accepts 19 fiat currencies, which include USD, AUD, HKD, EUR, GBP, and INR. U.S. residents are limited on Binance also limits U.S. residents to 47 altcoins as well as fiat currency.

There are some similarities between the two platforms as they both offer more than 100 trading pairs. In addition, they also support the popular cryptocurrencies, including Monero, Litecoin, Chainlink, and Dodgecoin, just to name a few.

Security

Both Kraken and Binance have strict standards that they meet in the U.S with the know your customer rule. However, they both approach security a little differently. Binance does not save room to disclose the details of the measures they take for security purposes. Instead, they only make a short statement about what they do with a percentage of their coins.

Kraken stands out because of the security measures they take. It works to not only improve their own security but also the security across the entire industry. For example, Kraken holds 95% of their deposits in geographically distributed cold storage. They also perform regular penetration testing. In addition, they run bug bounty programs and undergo a thread party audit for proof of reserves.

Kraken has not been hacked since it began operating in 2013. However, both Kraken and Binance have undergone distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks over the years.

In 2019, Binance suffered a wide scale security breach. This breach resulted in the theft of more than $40,000,000. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Justice Department are investigating Binance for illegal activity. So while both platforms offer two-factor authentication and other common but strong security measures, Kraken stands out for its continued commitment to transparency and safety for the cryptocurrency industry.

Fees

Both Kraken and Binance use the fee structure called the maker-take. As a result, they both offer lower fees the many other popular platforms. At first blush, Kraken appears as though they have higher fees than Binance. However, the maker-taker fees range from 0% to 0.26%, whereas Binance fees range from 0% to 0.10%.

A young trader that has a low volume of trading may pay a maker fee of about 0.16% or a taker fee of about 0.26% on Kraken. The same type of investor on Binance would end up paying a maker fee or taker fee of 0.10%. Binance does offer a 25% fee discount if you pay your fees using Binance Coin (BNB) to pay all fees. They also want you to hold more BNB, which will reduce your fees.

The fees schedule on Kraken’s app is pretty easy to read and then understand. Binance is more complex to understand and then it varies by VIP level. The fees for Kraken Pro may be different than what is listed here. You should always check the fee schedule directly on Kraken’s website.

Kraken charges $4 to $35 for Bank account, whereas, Binance has no fees outside of the U.S. Debit card incurs a percentage of 3.75% on Kracken and 3% to 4.5% on Binance. Binance does not offer conversion to crypt conversion. Kraken charges a fee for crypto conversion.

User Interface

The sign up process is easy for both applications and platforms. However, U.S. investors are required to follow the strictest verification process. Binance states that advanced verification may take as long as 15 days; however, users claim it takes much longer. Kraken, on the other hand, provides a clear timeline for all levels. Kraken’s authorization process takes only a few minutes. Unless you want Pro access. That can take as much as five days. Both Binance and Kraken prefer users that have at least a minimal knowledge of investing and crypto. Kraken has a website, and exchange are simple and easy to navigate. They ensure that is is easy to search for, find, and access help articles on Kraken.

Mobile Application

Binance has a mobile app for its main site and then another one for U.S. residents. Beginning investors may have a difficult time navigating both the web-based and mobile platforms. After time passes, the user will become used to the application and forget that they had a difficult time navigating it. Overall, the user interface is clean and user-friendly. The Binance.US app has some bugs, which causes problems with logging into the app. The user interface for Binance.US is less intuitive than the main site.

Kraken provides two mobile apps available to traders, Kraken and Kraken Pro. Both plastforms are highly rated by iOS and Android users. The mobile application has similar functionality to the web-based exchange. However, unlike Binance, Kraken will respond to just about every review or suggestion about their mobile apps. In addition, they are constantly working to improve the interface and the experience of their user.

Access

Kraken is ready and available to all U.S. residents, with the exception of those living in New York and Washington. Users also cannot trade Ripple XRP. In addition, there is a list of cryptocurrencies that they cannot hold, deposit, or trade. They include Bancor, Flow, Maker, and Sandbox, just to name a few. U.S. residents cannot buy certain cryptos on Kraken, but they can Binance. Currently, residents of 43 states in the U.S. can use Binance.US. The states that cannot use the platform include Connecticut, Hawaii, New York, Idaho, Texas, Vermont, and Louisiana.

The largest difference between them has to do with the specific platform. The Binance platform does not meet the regulations in the U.S., which is why Binance banned all U.S. residents. In addition, the Binance.US platform offers much fewer features than on the main website. In contrast, anyone is allowed to use the Kraken exchange. Therefore, U.S. users have fewer options than international customers.

Binance vs Kraken: The Winner

Best Overall

Kraken is the best overall crypto platform. Despite its advanced trading options, it is easy to use and learn. It has low fees that are explained up front and static. You do not have to worry about them fluctuating with the market. Kraken offers a large number of educational resources. You can trade various tokens and crypto easily. The withdrawal and deposit options are simple and accessible. Kraken offers a large number of features, all wrapped up in a nice interface for a small amount of money. U.S. residents are less impressed by the fact that they have fewer options on Binance. Kraken has more transparency, prioritizes security, and provides a good amount of currency options for U.S. users, although far fewer coins than Binance for international users. Kraken is the all around best platform for crypto trading.

Best for a Skilled Trader

Kraken takes the lead as the best platform for the skilled trader. If you are already familiar and perhaps have some experience with trading crypto, Kraken is the place for you. The Kraken interface is easy to use, and you can get right to trading without having to interact with anyone in the community. You will appreciate the transparency that Kraken provides. The fee structure is easy to read and understand.

Now that you know all about Kraken and Binance, now is the time for you to get started. It is much easier to get started on Kraken as your trading platform than you probably realize. It should only take you a few minutes to create your account. First, you want to go to the Kraken website or mobile app to create your account. To create your account, you must be sure to review the terms of service and privacy agreement. After you create an account, you want to make sure you secure your account, email, devices, and internet to be sure you and your account are as safe as possible. Next, Kraken will verify you, and then you can fund your account. After that, you are set and ready to begin trading.