Binance vs Kraken (2024)

Binance and Kraken are two of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, providing users with the opportunity to buy, sell and trade a vast range of cryptocurrencies.

On top of the standard services, both exchanges offer additional features such as staking and earning yield on digital asset holdings.

Quick verdict

The main difference between these two exchanges is the number of cryptocurrencies, range of products, currency support and regulation.

If you're looking to trade using Australian dollars, only Kraken offers proper AUD support, including the ability to buy and sell in AUD and bank deposits and withdrawals.

If you're looking for lower trading fees, more liquidity or the ability to trade more cryptocurrencies, Binance could be the better bet.

Overview: Binance vs Kraken

	Kraken	Binance
Location	United States	Distributed
Supports fiat currencies?	USD, EUR, CAD, AUD, GBP, CHF, JPY	EUR, GBP, USD, JPY, CAD, NZD, CHF, KWD, AED, BND
Range of supported cryptocurrencies?	290 cryptocurrencies	384 cryptocurrencies
Features	Fiat-to-cryptocurrency exchange Instant cryptocurrency purchases Supports AUD Staking Margin trading	Instant cryptocurrency purchases Staking DeFi and CeFi LaunchPad Peer-to-Peer trading services
Trading fees	Maker: 0.00-0.25% Taker: 0.10-0.40% Instant buy fees vary Deposit fees vary Withdrawal fees vary	Maker: 0.012-0.10% Taker: 0.024-0.10% Holders of the native BNB can receive discounts on trading fees
Customer support	Online help centre, email and social media, 24/7/365	Online help centre, email and social media
User interface	Intermediate Clean and sleek design, but less user friendly Designed primarily for a more advanced and active trader 3 Kraken mobile apps: Kraken, Kraken Pro and Kraken Futures	Intermediate Both simple and advanced trading platforms are available Slightly more intuitive interface
Set-up for new users	New users must provide the following: Username Email address To begin trading, users must provide: Address Phone number	New users must provide the following: Email address Proof of ID for fiat deposits
Supported countries	Global (50+ countries)	Global (50+ countries)
Learn more	Read our full Kraken review	Read our full Binance review

Features

Trading Fees

Payment methods

Trading volume

According to information collected by exchange aggregator CoinGecko, Binance is the largest exchange in the world by normalised trading volume, while Kraken comes in 16th place (last updated 24 September 2024).¹

Likewise, at the time of writing, Binance had the largest liquidity score on market aggregator CoinMarketCap, while Kraken was 6th.²

Both are among the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume, which ensures high liquidity and low slippage.

Security

Binance and Kraken are widely considered among the safest exchanges on the market. They both offer a variety of ways to secure your account, including customer support for compromised accounts and 2-factor authentication (2FA) which has become a standard procedure in the cryptocurrency industry.

For cryptocurrencies stored on the exchanges, Binance and Kraken employ cold storage facilities to mitigate against online attacks.^{3, 4} Cold storage means that funds are held within offline wallets and cannot be accessed without physical presence.

Binance also has a Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) emergency fund that can be used to cover lost customer funds. It currently has around US$1 billion in USDC.⁵

Kraken is praised as being one of the most secure exchanges on the market, having never been hacked. Binance, unfortunately, did suffer a hack in 2019 that resulted in the loss of roughly 7,000 BTC, after which it audited and upgraded its cybersecurity. It is now also touted as being one of the safest exchanges in the cryptocurrency space.

Regulation

Formed in 2015, Binance operates in a distributed manner, with the location of its primary business and operations subject to controversy. Although based in Hong Kong, the exchange has historically been reported to be registered in Malta.

It's flexibility has enabled it to offer an enormous range of industry leading products and services. In Australia, it is registered with AUSTRAC.

Launched in 2011, Kraken is one of the older exchanges in the cryptocurrency industry. Headquartered in San Francisco, Kraken is a US-regulated organisation that also serves more than 50 countries.

The exchange is registered with FinCEN and has been granted a US state banking charter. It is a Wyoming-based cryptocurrency bank, being the first of its kind.

The company is also registered in Canada, the UK, Japan and Australia, where it is registered under AUSTRAC.

Verdict: Should you use Binance or Kraken?

Binance and Kraken are without a doubt among the top exchanges in the world and can be used by both beginner and advanced cryptocurrency investors.

Binance no longer supports AUD bank deposits and withdrawals and has no AUD trading pairs. In comparison, Kraken supports AUD bank transfers and has multiple AUD trading pairs, which may make it more suitable for Australian traders looking to buy and sell using AUD.

On the other hand, Binance offers lower standard trading fees, better liquidity and more coins to trade, which may better suit more advanced traders with existing holdings looking to trade specific cryptocurrencies or access more competitive trading fees.

Compare Binance and Kraken

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Name	Product GXFCY	Deposit methods	Fiat currencies	Cryptocurrencies	Offer	Disclaimer	Go to site
Kraken Kraken Finder Award		Bank transfer, Credit card, Cryptocurrency, Debit card, PayID	7	290			Go to site Capital at risk View details Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Binance Australia Binance Australia 4.8★★★★★(1987)		Credit card, Cryptocurrency, Debit card, P2P	115	384			Go to site Capital at risk View details Compare	loading Fetching your data...

Disclaimer: Star ratings are only displayed for products with 10 or more reviews.

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