Binance vs Kraken: Fees

Binance's trading fee structure is tiered based on your 30-day trading volume. The base fee starts at 0.1%. They also offer discounts to users who pay fees using their native token (BNB). This means that your fee will be reduced from 0.1% to only 0.075% per trade. 

Deposits and withdrawals of fiat currency vary depending on your country and which currency you wish to use. For some locations, it is free to deposit and withdraw fiat.

Kraken trading fee structure is higher than Binance, and changes depending on whether you want to trade on the market, or instantly buy/sell directly on Kraken. For instant trades on stablecoins, the fee is 0.9%; otherwise, it is 1.5% for other cryptocurrencies. If you prefer to trade on the market, you can access lower fees of 0.16% for makers and 0.26% for takers.

Deposting fiat currency may incur a fee, depending on the fiat currency and deposit method. For example, if you deposit USD using FedWire (MVB Bank) there is no fee, but depositing USD with FedWire (Synapse) will cost you $5. Click here to see what fees are for the various deposit methods.

Binance vs Kraken: Payment Methods

Binance supports several deposit methods, including bank transfer, credit card, debit card, SWIFT, SOFORT/iDEAL, and cryptocurrency.

Kraken accepts a wider range of deposits, such as bank transfer (ACH), SEPA, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Fedwire, SWIFT, debit card, credit card, cryptocurrency, and more, depending on your country. 

Binance vs Kraken Features

Trading Markets

Spot trading is the most popular type of trading on Binance. You can trade over 600+ cryptocurrencies and 1,000+ trading pairs on the spot market.

Besides spot trading, you will find margin trading with up to 10x leverage, and users can choose between isolated and cross-margins. Binance also offers crypto loans, which can be used to finance margin trades. This service is provided at competitive interest rates, making it an attractive option for traders looking to make the most of their capital.

Binance offers futures trading on a wide range of digital assets. With more than 110 contracts available, investors can take advantage of highly leveraged positions and make use of the Stop Loss functions to protect their downside risk. The platform offers both USD-M perpetual contracts and COIN-M perpetual contracts that offer up to 20x leverage.

In addition to futures, spot, and margin trading, Binance also offers leveraged tokens. These digital assets are pegged to another asset's price and provide leveraged exposure to the underlying asset. Currently, there are 40 leveraged tokens available on the Binance platform.

While Kraken doesn't come close to Binance's range of cryptocurrencies, it offers a decent selection of altcoins and has a good reputation in the industry. Kraken currently lists 185+ cryptocurrencies, which is still a good number, especially for a novice.

The platform also supports margin and futures trading on select cryptocurrencies. For margin trading, there are over 40 coins available with leverage up to 5x. If you're a high volume trader, you can qualify for higher margin limits up to $500,000. 

Kraken offers a variety of futures contracts to trade, including single and multiple collateral options with up to 50x leverage. 30 USD perpetual contracts are available to trade. This variety of contract options and leverage amounts allows Kraken users to trade according to their risk profile. Kraken also offers a demo account for potential futures traders to try out the platform before putting any real money at risk. This is a great way to learn about the features and functionality of the Kraken futures trading platform before committing any capital.

Trading Features

In addition to offering a wide range of tradable assets, Binance provides users with access to powerful trading features. For instance, the Binance P2P marketplace allows users to quickly trade between themselves without having to use the market. This is great for those who want to get in and out of trades quickly.

Similarly, the Binance Spot Grids feature offers automated trading, so users can set up their trades and let the platform do the work for them. Binance also provides advanced charting tools and order types, so traders can plan and execute their trades with precision. All these features make Binance an excellent choice for those looking for a comprehensive and user-friendly trading experience.

Institutions and high-net-worth individuals can take advantage of Kraken's Over the Counter (OTC) desk to fill large orders without disrupting the market. The OTC desk offers deeper liquidity and a more personalized service, allowing clients to trade with confidence, knowing their orders will be filled at a competitive price. The desk also supports all fiat and cryptocurrencies listed on the exchange, making it easy for clients to find the right currency pair for their needs.

NFT Trading

The Binance NFT marketplace is a great platform for NFT creators, traders, and enthusiasts. The platform supports the buying, selling, and trading of a wide range of digital assets, including art, games, music, and more. It features a minting studio where users can create their own NFTs and a marketplace where they can buy and sell NFTs. There's also an events section where traders have premium access to NFTs from renowned artists and exhibitions. If you're feeling lucky, you can try your hand at winning a mystery box full of rare NFTs. With Normal, Rare, Super rare, and Super Super Rare NFTs up for grabs, you could be in for the find of a lifetime!

The Kraken NFT marketplace is still in the works but is expected to launch soon. You can, however, join the waitlist to be among the first to test it out.

Passive Income Opportunities

If you are looking for ways to generate income without putting in too much work, you'll be pleased to know that both Binance and Kraken offer passive income-generating opportunities.

Binance has a platform called Binance Earn that offers a wide range of products to help you grow your crypto assets. These products include savings, staking, farming, and dual investment. Through its Savings program, users can earn interest from HODLing their cryptocurrencies. Interest rates depend on the coin, but they are generally between 0.30% and 10%. Staking offers flexible and fixed-term options for earning rewards from products such as USDT (locked staking), ETH, DeFi, and DOT. And with farming, users can put their idle assets to good use by lending them to crypto borrowers and earning interest. For those looking for a little more interaction, Binance also offers dual investment and portfolio auto-invest options. The Portfolio Auto-Invest feature allows users to automatically reinvest their earnings into various assets.

Kraken only offers staking as a way to earn rewards on your crypto holdings. Staking works similarly to how it does on Binance, with users earning interest on their crypto assets. However, the interest rates offered by Kraken are much higher than what Binance offers, going up to about 23% APR.

User Experience

Binance is packed full of features, and because of this, it can be overwhelming for beginners to crypto. If you have never used a crypto exchange before, you may not understand how to navigate the platform, or trade on the markets. There is also no customer support at all, not even ticketed email support, so if you are having issues, there is no one to assist.

Kraken on the other hand, is a very simple and user-friendly platform. It is built for those who have never bought or sold crypto before, and they have a 24/7 live chat support team available to help you at any moment.

Binance vs Kraken: Security

Being the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance is a popular target for hackers. In May 2019, hackers stole over $40 million in BTC from Binance's hot wallets. With such a target on their back, Binance has had to invest heavily in security. Some of the measures they've taken include:

• Implementing a multi-tier and multi-clustered architecture
• Storing the vast majority of customer funds in cold wallets
• Data encryption
• Wallet and IP address whitelisting
• Two-factor authentication
• A risk management and control system to monitor and flag suspicious activity
• Compliance with financial security initiatives like AML and KYC

The exchange has also set up a $1 billion insurance fund to cover any future losses in the event of a hack.

Kraken has a better track record when it comes to security, and has never been hacked. Kraken attributes their success to their commitment to security best practices.

They have a world-class security team that is constantly innovating and expanding their security infrastructure. 95% of all deposits are kept in offline cold storage, so they are never vulnerable to hacks. All sensitive account information is encrypted, and two-factor authentication (2FA) is required for all withdrawals and changes to account settings.

The website itself is SSL-encrypted, and regular penetration testing is conducted to identify any potential vulnerabilities. In addition, Kraken is widely regulated by FINTRAC in Canada, FinCEN in the USA, AUSTRAC in Australia, FCA in the UK, and the FSA in Japan. This ensures that the Kraken team is always working to maintain the highest security and compliance standards.

Number of Cryptocurrencies

Binance offers more than 600+ cryptocurrencies, which is one of the largest ranges you will find on any crypto exchange.

Kraken has over 185+ cryptocurrencies, which is not as many as Binance, but is still a significant offering. 

Binance vs Kraken: Summary

Kraken is one of the oldest and most well-respected cryptocurrency exchanges in operation today. Founded in 2011, Kraken was one of the first exchanges to offer crypto-to-fiat trading pairs. It has since become a go-to exchange for serious traders and investors who want access to a wide range of cryptocurrencies. Binance is a relative newcomer to the world of cryptocurrency exchanges compared to Kraken, but it has quickly established itself as one of the leading platforms in the industry, and is now the largest crypto exchange in the world based on trading volume.

When comparing the two, Binance is the standout winner in terms of trading features, fees, cryptocurrency variety, and an advanced trading experience. However, if you are a newcomer to crypto and want an easy-to-use platform, Kraken is the better choice. 

Still Researching?

To find out more about these two crypto exchanges, read our detailed reviews of Binance (here) and Kraken (here). You can also take a look at this article on the top crypto exchanges, and compare them in our table below.