Kraken vs Crypto.com: fees, licences and which to pick in 2026

Kraken vs Crypto.com is a real choice for EU residents, because both hold a MiCA licence and both accept customers in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Ireland. Crypto.com has the lower trading fees, in its app and on its order book. Kraken lists more coins, charges far less to withdraw bitcoin, publishes a recent proof of reserves and offers regulated futures in the EU.

We compared both cryptocurrency exchanges using their official fee schedules, licence pages and the ESMA register, checked on 23 October 2026. We have not traded on either platform, so this comparison is based on published facts, not hands-on testing, and it is not investment advice.

Kraken vs Crypto.com: the short answer

Choose Crypto.com if you mainly buy crypto and keep it on the platform, want the lowest trading fees or want a card and tokenised US stocks in one app. Choose Kraken if you withdraw to your own wallet, want a wider choice of coins, or are an experienced trader who wants futures under EU rules.

• Main upside of Crypto.com: lower fees, with the Exchange from 0.25% maker / 0.50% taker and the app at 0.8%.
• Main catch of Crypto.com: bitcoin withdrawals cost 0.0002–0.0004 BTC, SEPA withdrawals need at least €80, and its proof of reserves dates from December 2022.
• Main upside of Kraken: more than 600 assets, a 0.000015 BTC withdrawal fee and a proof of reserves from June 2026.
• Main catch of Kraken: Kraken Pro fees rose to 0.40% / 0.80% in July 2026, and the simple app charges 1% plus a spread.

Kraken vs Crypto.com at a glance

The two platforms differ most on four points: trading fees, withdrawal fees, product range and how much they publish about reserves. The facts table above shows the licence, headline fees, coin count and availability; these are the differences behind it.

• Founded: Kraken in 2011, so it has been running for over a decade; Crypto.com in 2016.
• EU licence: Kraken from the Central Bank of Ireland (June 2025); Crypto.com from the Malta Financial Services Authority (January 2025).
• Order book: Kraken Pro against Crypto.com Exchange, both separate from the simple app.
• Coins: more than 600 assets with live pairs on Kraken against 400+ on Crypto.com.
• Fiat: both support euros, US dollars, British pounds, Australian and Canadian dollars; Kraken adds Swiss francs and Japanese yen, Crypto.com adds Singapore dollars and UAE dirhams.
• Support: both list 24/7 support in the app.

What is Kraken?

Kraken is a crypto exchange founded in 2011 and run by Payward. It serves EU residents through Payward Europe Solutions Limited, which holds a MiCA licence from the Central Bank of Ireland, and it runs a simple Kraken app for buying and Kraken Pro for order-book trading.

Kraken offers spot trading, staking, a crypto card and, for EU residents who pass an appropriateness test, futures through a firm licensed by CySEC in Cyprus. It publishes a Merkle-tree proof of reserves. The main downside is cost at low volume: since July 2026 Kraken Pro starts at 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker, and simple buys in the app cost 1% plus a spread.

What is Crypto.com?

Crypto.com is a crypto platform founded in 2016 that combines a mobile app, an order-book exchange, a prepaid Visa card and staking. EU residents are served by Foris DAX MT Limited, which holds a MiCA licence from the MFSA in Malta.

Crypto.com runs two products with different prices: the Crypto.com App, where you buy at a quoted price that includes a fee and a spread, and Crypto.com Exchange, an order book with maker and taker fees. Since 12 August 2026 EU users can also trade tokenised US stocks and ETFs, which are derivatives issued by its CySEC-regulated firm. The main trade-off is that the cheapest fees depend on using the Exchange or holding its CRO token.

Are Kraken and Crypto.com licensed in the EU?

Yes, both hold a MiCA authorisation and passport it to every EEA country. Kraken’s Payward Europe Solutions Limited was authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland on 25 June 2025, and a second entity, Payward Global Solutions Limited, is authorised to operate the trading platform. Crypto.com’s Foris DAX MT Limited was authorised by the MFSA, with notification on 27 January 2025, for custody, exchange, order execution and transfer services.

Both also hold MiFID II licences in Cyprus for other products. Kraken uses Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Limited for futures; Crypto.com uses Foris Capital CY Limited, obtained in May 2025, for tokenised stocks. Both also run e-money entities: Payward Ireland Limited at Kraken, and Foris MT Limited at Crypto.com, which also handles the Visa card.

Country availability: Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Ireland

Both exchanges list the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Ireland as available under their MiCA passports. In August 2026 Kraken also agreed to take over MEXC’s Dutch clients as MEXC wound down its Dutch offering. UK residents are served by Kraken’s FCA-registered Payward Limited and by Crypto.com’s Foris DAX UK Limited.

In the US, Kraken serves clients through Payward Interactive, Inc., registered with FinCEN and holding state money transmitter licences; its list does not include New York. Crypto.com serves US users through US entities. Our focus is the EU, so check local rules if you live elsewhere.

Kraken vs Crypto.com fees: which has lower fees?

Crypto.com has lower trading fees than Kraken in both the simple app and the order book. The Crypto.com App charges 0.8% against 1% in the Kraken app, and Crypto.com Exchange starts at 0.25% maker / 0.50% taker against 0.40% / 0.80% on Kraken Pro.

App fees: Kraken app vs Crypto.com App

Both apps add a spread to a visible fee, and neither publishes the spread. Kraken’s instant buy feature charges 1% on direct and recurring buys (1.5% for custom orders), plus the spread and any payment-method fee. The Crypto.com App charges a 0.8% trading fee on the EEA schedule plus a possible spread, and buying with a debit or credit card costs up to 4%.

Both sell subscriptions that remove the visible app fee. Kraken+ members pay no app trading fee on up to $10,000 a month, and Crypto.com’s Level Up, from €3.99 a month, advertises zero app trading fees. In both cases the spread still applies, so these plans only pay off if you buy often.

Kraken Pro vs Crypto.com Exchange fee schedule

Both order books use a tiered fee structure that falls with your 30-day volume. At the entry tier, Crypto.com Exchange charges 0.25% maker and 0.50% taker, falling to 0.08% / 0.18% from $500,000 of 30-day volume. Kraken Pro charges 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker, on a ladder that counts spot volume, futures volume or assets held.

Kraken’s fees went up in July 2026, when the entry tier rose from 0.25% / 0.40% to 0.40% / 0.80%. Stablecoin and FX pairs on Kraken cost 0.20% for both maker and taker. Crypto.com offers a CRO discount: a balance of 50,000 CRO or more gives 0% maker fees and 12% off taker fees. Holding that much of one token to save fees adds price risk, so we wouldn’t buy CRO just for the discount.

A maker order adds liquidity to the order book, usually a limit order that doesn’t fill straight away; a taker order, such as a market order, fills against existing orders. Our glossary explains maker and taker fees in more detail.

Worked examples: €100 and €1,000

Here is what a single buy costs at each exchange’s entry-tier fees. Spreads in the apps are not published, so app costs show the visible fee only.

On a €1,000 market order you save €3.00 at Crypto.com Exchange (€5.00 against €8.00). Before Kraken’s July 2026 change the same order cost €4.00 on Kraken Pro, so until then Kraken was the cheaper of the two for market orders.

€100 a month for a year

If you buy €100 every month for a year, a habit known as dollar cost averaging, the visible fees add up as follows. In the apps: 12 × €1.00 = €12.00 at Kraken and 12 × €0.80 = €9.60 at Crypto.com, plus spreads. With monthly limit orders on the order book: 12 × €0.40 = €4.80 on Kraken Pro and 12 × €0.25 = €3.00 on Crypto.com Exchange. Either way, learning to use the order book cuts your yearly fees by more than half.

Withdrawal fees and fiat deposits

Kraken has lower withdrawal fees for bitcoin, while euro withdrawals cost about the same. Both charge nothing for a SEPA bank transfer in, and both charge €1 to withdraw euros to your bank account.

The bitcoin withdrawal fee changes the maths if you move coins to your own wallet. Say you buy €1,000 of bitcoin with a market order and then withdraw 0.002 BTC or more. At Crypto.com you pay €5.00 plus 0.0004 BTC; at Kraken you pay €8.00 plus 0.000015 BTC. The extra 0.000385 BTC at Crypto.com costs more than the €3.00 you saved on the trade whenever bitcoin trades above about €7,800. If you plan to self-custody, Kraken is usually cheaper overall.

Crypto.com’s €80 minimum for SEPA withdrawals also matters if you sell small amounts. Kraken’s name-matching rule applies to bank transfers: the name on your bank account must match your Kraken account. Crypto.com requires identity verification before you deposit, and Kraken’s funding limits depend on your verification level.

Supported fiat currencies

Both exchanges support the main fiat currencies most European users need. Kraken supports EUR, USD, GBP, CHF, CAD, AUD and JPY; Crypto.com supports EUR, GBP, USD, AUD, CAD, SGD and AED. If you hold Swiss francs, Kraken is the one that lists them.

Advanced trading: tools for active traders

Kraken is the stronger choice for advanced traders in the EU, mainly because of futures. Both exchanges offer an order book separate from the simple app, with limit and market orders and an API, so basic trading features are similar for spot.

Kraken Pro and Crypto.com Exchange are the advanced interfaces. Experienced traders comparing them should look at liquidity on the trading pair they use, because a thin order book means more slippage on market orders; we have not measured this ourselves. For spot trading at low volume, Crypto.com Exchange is cheaper; for professional traders above the entry tier, compare the full fee schedule on each site, because both ladders fall with volume.

Futures and margin trading in the EU

Kraken offers crypto futures trading to EU residents, and we found no equivalent at Crypto.com. Kraken’s EEA futures, including perpetual futures, are offered by its CySEC-licensed firm only to clients who pass the MiFID II appropriateness test, with extra product and leverage limits, at fees from 0.02% maker / 0.05% taker on the first tier. Crypto.com Exchange derivatives are geo-restricted in all EEA countries, the UK and the US, and we could not confirm any other route to crypto futures for EU retail clients.

Margin trading is listed by both, but Kraken limits it to “eligible clients” and does not state whether EU retail clients qualify. Most retail traders lose money with leveraged products, and you can lose more than you expect in a fast market. Futures suit experienced traders with a plan for losses, not casual buyers.

Coins, staking and features Kraken and Crypto.com offer

Kraken lists more coins: our count of its public API shows more than 600 assets with live pairs, against 400+ on Crypto.com. Both cover bitcoin, ether and the other major coins, so the gap matters if you want smaller digital assets. Kraken’s figure is our own count, not an official number.

Both exchanges offer staking. Crypto.com states that its Earn and staking products are not regulated under MiCA, so the licence does not protect those balances. Rewards change and are paid in crypto, so the value can fall. Crypto.com also offers tokenised US stocks and ETFs to EU users since August 2026; these are derivatives, not shares you own.

Cards for everyday purchases

Both offer a crypto card for everyday purchases. In the EU, the Kraken Card is a Mastercard issued by UAB Monavate under the Bank of Lithuania. The Crypto.com Visa card is a prepaid card issued through its Maltese e-money institution, Foris MT Limited. We have not verified current card rewards on either card, which change often, so check the terms before you sign up.

Security: proof of reserves, cold storage and incidents

Kraken publishes more recent evidence that it holds customer funds. Its Merkle-tree proof of reserves, checked by an independent accountant, has a latest snapshot of 30 June 2026, and you can check that your own balance is included. Crypto.com’s proof of reserves was verified by Mazars, based on a snapshot of 7 December 2022, and no newer attestation is shown on its page.

On cold storage, neither publishes a percentage. Crypto.com states that all client crypto is held 1:1 in reserve with strict access controls on cold and hot wallets. Kraken’s card page states that major crypto assets are held 1:1 and covered by £125 million of insurance, without detailing the scope. Crypto.com offers an Account Protection Programme with up to USD 250,000 cover against unauthorised transactions.

The incidents on record:

• Crypto.com, 2022: attackers bypassed two-factor authentication on 483 accounts and withdrew about $34 million (4,836 ETH and 443 BTC). Crypto.com said affected users were reimbursed.
• Crypto.com, 2023: a phishing attack on an employee exposed limited personal data of a small number of users. Bloomberg reported it in September 2025 as undisclosed; Crypto.com said regulators were notified and no funds were at risk.
• Kraken: our data lists no security incidents, but we have not completed a dedicated check, so we can’t confirm a clean security record.

On either platform, use app-based two-factor authentication rather than SMS, and turn on withdrawal address allowlisting where offered so user funds can only go to addresses you approved.

Track record with regulators

Both companies have paid fines or settled cases, and neither has an unblemished history. These are the cases we verified:

• Kraken, 2022: paid $362,159 to the US Treasury’s OFAC to settle apparent violations of Iran sanctions.
• Kraken, 2023: paid $30 million to settle SEC charges over its US staking-as-a-service programme and ended that programme for US clients. A separate 2023 SEC lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice in March 2025.
• Crypto.com, 2023: De Nederlandsche Bank fined Foris DAX MT Limited €2.85 million for serving Dutch customers without registration from May 2020 to November 2022. Crypto.com appealed, and we found no outcome. It obtained DNB registration in July 2023.
• Crypto.com, 2025: the US SEC closed its investigation without enforcement action in March 2025.

Kraken also won a $22 million arbitration award against Mazars USA, the auditor that withdrew from its 2022 audit in December 2023.

Mobile app, ease of use and customer support

Crypto.com is built around a single mobile app that combines buying, the card, staking and tokenised stocks. Kraken splits the simple Kraken app from Kraken Pro, so you have two apps to learn if you want order-book prices. Both work for a first buy; the cheaper fees on either platform sit in the more advanced interface.

Both list 24/7 support. Kraken offers 24/7 in-app support and a support centre; Crypto.com offers 24/7 live chat in the app and at chat.crypto.com, plus a help centre. Only contact support through the official app or website, because fake support accounts are a common scam.

Kraken vs Crypto.com: who should choose which?

Choose Crypto.com if:

• you mainly buy and hold on the platform and want the lowest trading fees;
• you want one mobile app with a card, staking and tokenised US stocks;
• you are comfortable with a proof of reserves that dates from December 2022.

Choose Kraken if:

• you withdraw bitcoin to your own wallet and want a 0.000015 BTC fee;
• you want more coins or hold Swiss francs;
• you are an experienced trader who wants futures under MiFID II rules;
• you value a recent proof of reserves.

Look elsewhere if you want the simplest possible app with free euro withdrawals: our Coinbase vs Kraken and Coinbase vs Crypto.com comparisons cover Coinbase, which charges nothing for SEPA withdrawals. For a full breakdown of costs, see the Kraken fees and Crypto.com fees pages.

Final verdict

For most EU residents who buy and hold, Crypto.com is cheaper to trade on; for anyone who withdraws to a wallet or wants futures, Kraken works out better. Crypto.com’s downside is a stale proof of reserves and high bitcoin withdrawal fees. Kraken’s downside is the July 2026 fee increase.

Read our Kraken review and Crypto.com review for the full picture. If you also looked at Gemini, note that it closed its EU accounts in April 2026: see Crypto.com vs Gemini. Crypto prices can fall sharply and you can lose all the money you put in, so only invest what you can afford to lose.