Kraken vs Coinbase: fees, licences and which is better

Kraken vs Coinbase is a comparison between two licensed crypto exchanges, so for EU readers it comes down to cost and features rather than legality. Both hold a MiCA authorisation that covers the whole EEA. Kraken is cheaper on its order-book platform and lists more coins and fiat currencies; Coinbase charges nothing to withdraw euros and, as a Nasdaq-listed company, publishes audited accounts. The main catch on each side: Coinbase’s entry-level trading fees are higher than those of other exchanges we compare, such as Kraken and Bybit EU, and Kraken raised its own fees in July 2026.

If you searched for Coinbase Pro vs Kraken: Coinbase Pro has been replaced by Coinbase Advanced, Coinbase’s platform for advanced traders, which we compare with Kraken Pro below. We checked both exchanges’ fee pages, licence registers and public records on 23 October 2026. For more detail on each, read our Coinbase review and Kraken review.

Kraken vs Coinbase: which crypto exchange wins?

Kraken wins on trading costs, choice and EU futures; Coinbase wins on free euro withdrawals and corporate transparency. Both Kraken and Coinbase are licensed where you live if you live in the EU, so in the Kraken vs Coinbase choice you can’t go wrong on regulation alone.

• Lower trading fees: Kraken’s cheaper fees start on Kraken Pro, which charges 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker at entry level. Coinbase Advanced charges 0.60% and 1.20%.
• Cashing out to your bank: Coinbase’s SEPA withdrawals are free; Kraken charges €1, or €0.90 via SEPA Instant.
• More assets: Kraken has 600+ assets and seven fiat currencies; Coinbase has 400+ assets and three.
• Futures for EU residents: Kraken has a clear, published route through its CySEC-licensed entity. Coinbase launched EU futures in March 2026, but who qualifies as a retail client is not yet clear.
• Track record: both have regulatory history. Coinbase’s list of fines is longer and includes two from the Central Bank of Ireland.

Are Kraken and Coinbase licensed in the EU?

Yes. Both exchanges hold a MiCA authorisation that is passported to every EEA country, including the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Ireland. That means a national regulator supervises how each one runs its business and holds client assets.

Coinbase serves EEA residents through Coinbase Luxembourg S.A., authorised by Luxembourg’s CSSF on 20 June 2025 for custody, exchange, order execution, placing, reception and transmission of orders, and transfer services. Coinbase moved its EU hub from Ireland to Luxembourg in 2025. Derivatives run through Coinbase Financial Services Europe Ltd, a MiFID II firm in Cyprus that was formerly BUX’s Cyprus unit. Coinbase Germany GmbH was the first firm to receive a BaFin crypto custody licence, in June 2021.

Kraken operates through Payward, and its EU entity Payward Europe Solutions Limited was authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland on 25 June 2025. A second entity, Payward Global Solutions Limited, is authorised to operate the trading platform. Futures run through Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Limited, licensed by CySEC (licence 342/17). In August 2026 Kraken agreed to take over MEXC’s clients in the Netherlands as MEXC wound down its Dutch offering.

A licence is supervision, not a guarantee. Crypto-assets are not covered by investor compensation schemes such as the Dutch one, so if prices fall or something goes wrong, the licence does not give you your money back.

Outside the EU: UK, US and international users

Both exchanges also serve the UK and the US, with one difference that matters to US readers. In the UK, Coinbase uses FCA-registered CB Payments Ltd and Kraken uses FCA-registered Payward Limited. In the US, Coinbase holds a New York BitLicense and state money transmitter licences, while Kraken’s US licence list does not include New York. Kraken is also registered with AUSTRAC in Australia through Bit Trade Pty Ltd.

Kraken vs Coinbase: account setup and funding methods

Account setup is similar on both: you complete identity verification, then fund your account by SEPA bank transfer, the euro equivalent of a wire transfer. Both Coinbase and Kraken require the name on your bank account to match the name on your exchange account, so you can’t fund from a partner’s or a company account.

• Coinbase: the verification Coinbase asks for must be complete before you can deposit by SEPA; you need a fully verified account. Coinbase states that SEPA deposits and withdrawals in euros are free and take 1–3 business days.
• Kraken: the withdrawal limit and funding limit on your Kraken account depend on its verification level, so a higher withdrawal limit means more checks. Kraken’s funding options page states that SEPA deposits are free; SEPA withdrawals cost €1, or €0.90 through SEPA Instant via ClearJunction (Kraken’s support table, updated 28 September 2026).

Kraken supports seven fiat currencies: euros, US dollars, British pounds, Swiss francs, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars and Japanese yen. Coinbase supports euros, British pounds and US dollars. Neither publishes a fixed card-deposit fee that we could verify, so check the payment method screen before you pay by card, and compare it with a free SEPA payment method.

Crypto trading fees: Coinbase fees vs Kraken Pro fees

Kraken Pro is cheaper than Coinbase Advanced at entry level: 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker against 0.60% maker and 1.20% taker. That makes Kraken the exchange with lower fees at every order size in the examples below. On both, the fee you pay depends on whether your order adds to the order book (maker) or takes from it (taker); our maker and taker glossary entry explains the difference.

Two caveats. Kraken restructured its Pro fee schedule in July 2026, raising the entry tier from 0.25%/0.40% to 0.40%/0.80%. And Coinbase no longer shows Advanced rates on its public fee pages; the 0.60%/1.20% figure for the lowest tier comes from a copy of the in-app table and may differ for EU accounts, so confirm the fee in the order preview.

Coinbase Advanced vs Kraken Pro: worked examples

Here is what the entry-level maker taker fees cost on realistic orders:

On a €1,000 market order, Kraken Pro saves you €4.00. If you buy €100 every month with limit orders, Kraken Pro costs €4.80 a year and Coinbase Advanced €7.20.

Both platforms lower fees as you trade more:

• Kraken: volume tiers sit on a shared ladder that counts spot volume, futures volume or assets held. Stablecoin and FX pairs cost 0.20% maker and taker.
• Coinbase: Advanced tiers fall with 30-day volume or your USDC balance, down to 0.00% maker and 0.02% taker at the top.

Simple buy costs in the apps

The simple buy screens in both apps cost more than the pro platforms, so don’t compare one exchange’s app with the other’s pro fees. Kraken publishes its app fee; Coinbase does not publish a fixed figure.

• Kraken app: a 1% fee on direct and recurring buys (1.5% for custom orders), plus a variable spread and possible payment-method fees. A €100 buy costs €1.00 plus the spread; a €1,000 buy costs €10.00 plus the spread.
• Coinbase app: a spread built into the quoted price plus a Coinbase fee that varies by payment method, order size and market. Both are shown in the order preview before you confirm. Simple limit orders add a 1% execution fee.

The final cost is what the preview shows, not the headline fee. If you invest small amounts every month, setting up recurring purchases in the mobile app is convenient, but recurring buys in the Kraken app pay the same 1% fee: €12 a year on €100 a month, before the spread. Placing those recurring buys yourself as limit orders on Kraken Pro would cost €4.80 a year instead.

Subscriptions: Coinbase One and Kraken+

Both exchanges sell a subscription that removes some app fees. Coinbase One removes simple-trade fees with limits, and Kraken+ members pay no app trading fee on up to $10,000 a month. On both, the spread still applies, and you pay for the subscription itself, so it only pays off if you buy often in the app.

Deposits, withdrawals and network fees

SEPA deposits are free on both exchanges, so deposit fees are not a reason to pick one over the other. Withdrawal fees differ:

A worked round trip: you deposit €1,000 by SEPA, buy bitcoin with a market order, later sell it with a market order and withdraw the euros. Assuming the price hasn’t moved, Kraken Pro costs €8.00 + €8.00 + €1.00 = €17.00. Coinbase Advanced costs €12.00 + €12.00 + €0 = €24.00. Kraken is still €7.00 cheaper despite its withdrawal fee.

For crypto deposits and withdrawals, the exchange fee is separate from the blockchain network fee. Always pick the same network on both sides of a transfer, and send a small test amount first: crypto sent to a wrong address or network is usually lost. Our Kraken fees page and Coinbase fees page list every cost.

Advanced trading features: Coinbase Advanced vs Kraken Pro

Both exchanges pair a simple app with a separate platform for advanced trading: Coinbase Advanced and Kraken Pro. For active trading, Kraken Pro is the cheaper of the two at every entry-level fee, and both exchanges offer an API for automated trading and limit orders for controlling your price.

These advanced platforms add an order book, price charts and more order types, which are useful trading tools for experienced traders but not needed for a monthly buy. If you are new, start trading in the app with small amounts, then move to the pro platform once you understand maker and taker orders. You use the same login and the same balance for both screens, so there is no transfer between them.

The advanced features that matter most for cost are the order types. A limit order on either platform is the cheapest way to buy, because it is usually charged the maker fee. A market order is charged the taker fee, which on Coinbase Advanced is twice the maker fee.

Margin trading, futures trading and derivatives

Kraken has the clearer route to futures for EU residents. Its CySEC-licensed entity offers futures to EEA clients who pass the MiFID II appropriateness test, with extra product and leverage limits. Entry-tier fees are 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker for accounts under $5m of futures volume. Margin trading on spot is offered to “eligible clients”; Kraken’s fee page doesn’t say whether that includes EU retail clients.

Coinbase launched crypto and equity-index futures for Advanced users in 26 European countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, in March 2026, with up to 10x leverage and fees from 0.02% per contract. Its Dutch Advanced page refers to “professional clients”, so retail eligibility for futures trading is not confirmed. We could not verify margin trading for EU users on Coinbase.

Worked example on Kraken: you post €500 as margin at 10x leverage, opening a €5,000 position. At the taker rate of 0.05%, opening costs €2.50 and closing costs another €2.50, before funding payments.

Kraken vs Coinbase: supported assets and fiat currencies

Kraken lists more supported assets: 600+ against the 400+ that Coinbase supports. Kraken’s figure is our count of base assets with live trading pairs in its public data, not an official number, while Coinbase’s comes from its Advanced trade page.

For most investors the count matters less than liquidity on the coins you actually buy. Both exchanges list bitcoin, ether and the other large coins with active order books. The wider list on Kraken helps if you want smaller assets, but smaller coins also carry wider spreads and higher risk. Kraken’s seven fiat currencies are useful if you hold Swiss francs or other non-euro money; Coinbase covers euros, pounds and dollars.

Security features, cold storage and account protection

Neither exchange publishes a cold-storage percentage on the official pages we checked, so we can’t compare cold storage directly. What they do publish about customer funds is different in kind, and the security features you switch on yourself matter as much.

Proof of reserves and custody disclosures

• Kraken: a Merkle-tree proof of reserves checked by an independent accountant, with the latest snapshot dated 30 June 2026. Kraken’s card page also states that major crypto assets are held 1:1 and covered by £125m of insurance, without detailing the scope.
• Coinbase: no Merkle-tree proof of reserves that we could find. As a Nasdaq-listed company since April 2021, it publishes quarterly financial statements, audited annually, and states that it holds customer assets 1:1.

Proof of reserves shows assets at one moment, not the full balance sheet; audited accounts show the whole company, but only at reporting dates. Neither removes the risk of keeping crypto on an exchange.

Incidents and account protection

Coinbase had a serious data incident in 2025: criminals bribed offshore support staff to obtain data on about 69,000 customers. Coinbase refused a $20m ransom and estimated $180m–$400m in costs. For Kraken, we found no verified security incident in the sources we checked, but we have not completed a dedicated search, so we don’t describe its record as clean.

The Coinbase breach is a reminder that leaked customer data fuels fake-support scams. Both exchanges offer two-factor authentication, and on either one you should:

• turn on two-factor authentication with an authenticator app or security key, not SMS;
• never share codes with anyone who calls or messages you, even if they know your details;
• use withdrawal address allow-lists where offered;
• keep long-term holdings in a hardware wallet where you control the private keys.

Regulatory track record

Both exchanges have regulatory history; Coinbase’s list is longer and more recent.

Coinbase:

• 2023: a $100m settlement with New York’s NYDFS ($50m penalty, $50m compliance spend) over AML and KYC failures, and a €3.3m DNB fine for serving Dutch customers without registration between November 2020 and August 2022.
• 2024: the FCA fined UK unit CB Payments Ltd £3.5m for onboarding high-risk customers.
• 2025: the SEC dismissed its 2023 lawsuit. The Central Bank of Ireland fined Coinbase Europe Limited €21.46m after more than 30 million transactions were not properly monitored for AML purposes.
• 2026: on 22 October the Central Bank of Ireland fined Coinbase Ireland Limited €3.25m over failures in safeguarding customer funds and in outsourcing between 2020 and 2025. Both Irish fines are subject to High Court confirmation.

Kraken:

• 2022: Kraken paid $362,159 to OFAC to settle apparent violations of Iran sanctions.
• 2023: it paid $30m to settle SEC charges over its US staking-as-a-service programme, which it ended for US clients. The SEC also sued Kraken that year; the complaint was dismissed with prejudice in March 2025.
• Separately, Payward won a $22m arbitration award against Mazars USA, the auditor that withdrew from Kraken’s 2022 audit.

Staking and staking fees

Both exchanges offer staking, but only Coinbase publishes its commission. The exchange commission Coinbase takes is 35% of staking rewards for assets such as ETH, SOL and ADA, lower for Coinbase One members. If your staked ETH earns €10 in staking rewards, Coinbase keeps €3.50 and you receive €6.50.

Kraken offers staking too, but we don’t have a verified commission figure to quote. On both, reward rates vary, some assets have lock-up or unbonding periods, and the value of the coins you stake can fall faster than the rewards come in.

Mobile app, support and cards: which is more beginner friendly?

Neither crypto platform is clearly more beginner friendly on the evidence we have: both offer a mobile app with a simple user interface for buying, a pro platform for later, a payment card and English-language support. The differences are in support and in how each app prices a buy. Coinbase has phone support and shows its spread and fee in the preview; Kraken publishes a fixed 1% app fee and offers support around the clock.

• Coinbase support: phone and in-app messaging with a virtual assistant and, depending on hours, live agents.
• Kraken support: 24/7 in-app support and a support centre.
• Cards: in the EU, the Coinbase Card is issued by Paysafe Payment Solutions Limited, and the Kraken Card is a Mastercard issued by UAB Monavate under the Bank of Lithuania.

For taxes, both let you export your transaction history, which you can load into crypto tax software. Keep records of every transfer between exchanges and wallets, because tax rules differ per country.

Which crypto platform should you choose?

The choice depends on how you buy and how often you cash out.

Choose Coinbase if

• you withdraw euros to your bank often and want that to be free;
• you value a Nasdaq-listed parent with audited quarterly accounts;
• you live in New York, where Kraken is not licensed;
• you accept higher trading fees: 1.20% taker on Coinbase Advanced at entry level.

Choose Kraken if

• you want lower fees on Kraken Pro: €8.00 instead of €12.00 on a €1,000 market order;
• you want EU-regulated futures and pass the appropriateness test;
• you want more coins or fiat currencies such as Swiss francs;
• you accept the €1 SEPA withdrawal fee and the 1% fee in the standard app.

Using both Kraken and Coinbase

Using two accounts can make sense: buy on Kraken Pro for lower fees and keep a Coinbase account for free euro withdrawals. Both Coinbase and Kraken let you move crypto out to another exchange or wallet. But every transfer between them costs a network fee and adds a step where mistakes happen, so for most people one account is enough.

Who should look elsewhere: if your priority is the lowest spot fee among licensed EU exchanges, Bybit EU charges a flat 0.25%. Compare it in Kraken vs Bybit and Coinbase vs Bybit.

Final verdict: Kraken vs Coinbase

Kraken wins this Kraken vs Coinbase comparison for most EU investors. It is licensed in the EU, cheaper on its pro platform, offers more assets and a clear route to regulated futures, and its record shows fewer penalties. Coinbase is the better fit if you value free SEPA withdrawals and a listed parent company, and you are willing to pay higher trading fees for it. Whichever you choose, use the pro platform or limit orders to keep costs down, and remember that crypto can lose its entire value.