What is Kraken?

Kraken (crypto exchange) was founded on 28th July 2011 and is currently ranked 4th with a rating of 8.5 as of march 2021 from CoinMarketCap. This crypto exchange supports more than 50 popular cryptocurrencies. The fiat currencies that are supported by Kraken are US Dollar (USD), Euro (EUR), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Australian Dollar (AUD), Pound Sterling (GBP), Swiss Franc (CHF) and Japanese Yen (JPY). Kraken is available to 48 residents of the U.S. states and 176 countries worldwide.

This exchange was founded by Jesse Powell. Kraken was inspired to create a better and safer exchange from Mt. Gox. Mt. Gox was one of the world’s leading bitcoin exchanges previously. In the past years, this company, Mt. Gox, faced huge hacks. A $460 million hacking disaster. This event shook the whole bitcoin sphere. These hacks actually happened due to poor maintenance. This was why Kraken was built. They provide the world with a better, safer and quicker crypto exchange.

Kraken is mostly for beginners who want to start small and then reach great heights. You can just become a first-time-try pro. You go step by step to master this website. Kraken is great for beginners.

Why is Kraken so popular?

Kraken is one of the most popular crypto exchange marketplace and almost known by every single crypto user around the world. Are you wondering how this exchange became so popular? Well then, here’s the answer.

Kraken was launched (founded) in 2011, nine years ago (nearly ten). In this time span of nine years, most crypto users began to realise its excellent features and started using it as their main exchange for cryptos. Although the crypto-fever only began recently in the past few years, a lot of people were still using cryptos in 2010. An example is Laszlo Hanyecz bought two Papa John’s pizzas for ₿10,000 which now is approximately worth $49,319.80 X 10,000. That is currently $493,198,000 which is $493 million. At that time, it was just worth around $40.

Mt. Gox

The actual reason to why Kraken became so famous is because of its very low fees as low as 0%. Kraken only made headlines in the late 2014 due to Mt. Gox. Kraken was selected to support an investigation into the “lost” bitcoins. Mt. Gox faced a lot of hacks so cryptos went missing often. Kraken was also responsible for the distribution of remaining assets to the Mt. Gox’s creditors. Mt. Gox had a huge debt pile as well as 850,000 lost bitcoins which it was responsible for. When all this started, Kraken was not amongst the top exchanges. Only in the past years did it become so famous.

All Mt. Gox customers who wanted to get back their lost bitcoins were required to open an account on Kraken. This was when Kraken grew popular. A few of the creditors who wanted their money back continued to use this Kraken service till today. Kraken only then quickly grew in popularity due to top rankings and reviews on few very popularly known review and info websites as well as due to rising trading volume on this platform. In the late February of 2016,most Mt. Gox people had claimed their loss. This is how Kraken became so popular.

Pros and Cons of Kraken

Pros

Fees as low as 0%
24/7 customer support
Buy and sell cryptos in just a few clicks
Safecoin storage
Real-time monitoring for any suspicious activity

Cons

Low customer service rating
Website is slow on occasions.
Complex graphs (only for beginners)
Deposits can be expensive for certain users

Open an account on Kraken

Now that you’ve gained a basic understanding of what this crypto exchange is, let’s have a look at how to open an account. Here are the steps to open an account on this platform;

Step 1

The first thing that you have to do to create an account is visit Kraken. Visit Kraken signup by clicking here. Or if you want to do it manually, visit kraken.com and then click on the “Create Account” button at the top right.

Step 2

After you have clicked on that button, you can admire the sign up page of Kraken as its design is just great. So now, you have to fill out all the details. This includes your email address, an username, a very strong password that is impossible to guess as well as your country of residence. Then you have to read it’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy before you click on the “Create Account” button. You might get the reCAPCHA.

Step 3

You will then receive an activation email containing an activation key that you need. Then you have to enter your activation key on the account activation form provided. Also provide the username and password in the given space.

Then that’s it, you successfully have created your account and you can get started.

Kraken screens — Image Credit – kraken.com

Account rules and tips

Create and use passwords that are impossible to guess. Don’t have lame passwords such a “password123” or “password” or even “kraken”. You can do better than that! Think of some passwords such as “myoneandonlyaccount!)2984<hi>”. If you are thinking that this sample password is too long, then well, you are wrong. The minimum length is 15 characters and the maximum is 128. Your password should contain 12 characters, 1 letter (e.g. l, e, o etc.), 1 number (e.g. 1, 5, 8 etc.) and 1 special character (e.g. !, @, #, $ etc.) as per this platform’s rules. You can also have more than one of these. Also do not provide the same password as on your email address or any other service that you use. You can use password generators or even create your own generator with python to generate random passwords.

Your username should be between 5 and 32 characters which means that at least five and maximum 32 characters. Mostly longer usernames are better. Remember that once you have set your username, it cannot be changed. These usernames are permanent so think of a good one just as you start. Also remember that the username is only for your purpose, it should not be shared with anyone. Even when you are chatting with kraken support, only provide your public account ID.

Buying Bitcoin (BTC) on Kraken

Step 1

Step 2

The next thing that you have to do is to verify your account. The three types of verified accounts are “Starter”, “Intermediate” and “Pro”. All three accounts provide you with security and apps. All three allow you to deposit cryptocurrencies. Taking out crypto from the starter has a low limit. Withdrawing crypto from the intermediate has a high limit. Withdrawing crypto from the pro has the highest limit. With the “Starter” verification, you can buy BTC with other cryptocurrencies. If you’d like to purchase with fiat currencies, all you’ll need to do, is to provide additional support documents that verify your identity.

Step 3

What you’ll have to do now, is to deposit fiat currency or cryptocurrency. You have to create a deposit address and then send the funds to this address given to you. This can be done by using SWIFT, SEPA or domestic wire transfers.

Then that’s it, you’re done, you can start buying bitcoins now!

Buying Litecoin (LTC) on Kraken

Step 1

Step 2

The next thing that you have to do is to verify your account. The three types of verified accounts are “Starter”, “Intermediate” and “Pro”. All three accounts provide you with security and apps. All three allow you to deposit cryptocurrencies. Withdrawing crypto from the starter has a low limit. Extracting crypto from the intermediate has a high limit. Drawing out crypto from the pro has the highest limit. With the “Starter” verification, you can buy LTC with other cryptocurrencies. If you’d like to purchase with fiat currencies, all you’ll need to do, is to provide additional support documents that verify your identity.

Step 3

Then that’s it, you’re done, you can start buying litecoins now!

Kraken alternatives

A few alternatives to this crypto exchange are:

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Disclaimer: Digital Wallets News does not recommend that any cryptocurrency should be bought, sold, or held by you. Do conduct your own due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.