Is Kraken Safe?

Kraken isn’t just a legendary sea monster but a renowned cryptocurrency exchange. On Kraken, you can buy, sell, trade, and even learn about various cryptocurrencies.

What is Kraken?

Kraken is a United States-based cryptocurrency exchange founded by Jesse Powell on July 28th, 2011. Jesse is a major influencer and pioneer in the cryptocurrency industry.

Kraken is one of the oldest and most reliable cryptocurrency exchanges globally and is available to residents of 48 US states and 176 countries. On the exchange, you can trade between 72 cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies.

In-depth Analysis of Kraken’s Security

Kraken has been created by prioritizing security in mind and design. The exchange has heavily invested in its security and hasn’t ever been hacked. Yes, you read that correctly.

Unlike other cryptocurrency exchanges, which have been hacked before and resulting in millions of dollars in lost coins, Kraken has maintained its image as a hack-free cryptocurrency exchange.

With laws and policies in place, most hacked crypto exchanges have compensated their users for any lost value. In any case, the last thing you want is to trade via a crypto exchange that offers a low level of cybersecurity. Inferior cybersecurity puts you at risk and makes you more susceptible to online attacks.

While crypto exchanges take their security seriously, Kraken’s commitment to security is far superior to other exchanges. This can be credited to Kraken not having any hacking events since its inception. However, Kraken’s rival Binance, the leading crypto exchange, has been previously hacked.

Kraken’s Team

Kraken has leading top security professionals onboard who thoroughly analyze risks and ensure the clients’ coins/funds are protected at all times. All this is done while maintaining the highest level of security and keeping the user experience in mind.

Kraken’s Coin Storage Security

Kraken offers superior coin storage security. This can be attributed to the fact that the exchange maintains 95% of coin deposits in offline cold storage scattered across the globe. The exchange keeps full reserves of the coins so that users can withdraw their funds anytime.

Kraken’s Platform Security

Kraken offers superior platform security than other exchanges. Kid you not, Kraken maintains its servers in secure cages under constant surveillance by armed guards and video cameras. Around the clock, shifts change, and armed guards take their duty. Physical access is strictly controlled and limited to a few individuals.

Kraken’s Information Security

Additionally, Kraken encrypts your sensitive information associated with the exchange, such as your contact information, trade data, and coins at the system and data level. To maintain the secrecy of your information, Kraken regularly conducts vulnerability testing of its system to ensure that its services are risk-free.

Penetration Testing

Kraken has a dedicated penetration testing team that regularly tests its systems by engaging in every possible attack vector.

Bug Bounty

In addition to penetration testing, Kraken runs a bug bounty program. The program aims to reach out to industry experts and the security community to detect any vulnerabilities in the platform.

Additional Security Measures

Here’s a list of the additional security measures Kraken has in place:

1. Two-factor authentication (Google Authenticator and YubiKey). This is an additional step that ensures the security of your account.
2. No account recovery via Phone/SMS. This ensures that the account can’t be accessed by anyone else but the user.
3. For withdrawals, users get email confirmations with an option to lock an account
4. An option to manually configure account timeout
5. Customizable, granular API key permissions with range boundaries
6. A time lock setting for additional security when you’re inactive
7. PGP signed and encrypted email for secure communication
8. Web connection with Kraken is SSL encrypted
9. Continuous, real-time monitoring for suspicious activity
10. Zero settlement risk, no chargeback fraud when trading crypto
11. Sensitive data is fully encrypted at rest and in transit
12. High priority 24/7 live chat and email support for urgent concerns

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Kraken’s Stance on Security

Here’s Kraken’s official stance on security:

Our mission is to increase cryptocurrency adoption worldwide, and we recognize that this extends past Kraken’s products and services. We’re committed to helping the entire industry become more secure, and that means identifying vulnerabilities in other projects or tools that our clients regularly use. To this end, we’ve developed Kraken Security Labs to test third-party services and products in an effort to help identify, publicize and solve issues before they’re exploited by bad actors. – Kraken

Kraken’s security-centric architecture is a bold step towards ensuring the privacy of its users.

Does Kraken offer a Crypto Wallet?

More often, it’s mistaken that crypto exchanges also offer a wallet service. Some exchanges provide a crypto wallet, but Kraken does not provide a wallet service. While users can deposit funds to Kraken’s corporate wallet for safekeeping, they don’t have a personal wallet service.

Kraken Pros and Cons

Here are the advantages and disadvantages of using Kraken:

Pros	Cons
Supreme security	Not for beginners
Wide range of cryptocurrencies	Limited starter account
Advanced trading features	Slow account funding
Reasonable fees on deposits/withdrawals	Questionable customer service
Sleek design with lots of customizations	Website is slow at times
Popular with experienced traders	No credit/debit card deposits

 Is Kraken User Friendly?

Kraken is a great platform, but it’s most suited for seasoned traders. If you’re a beginner at crypto trading, you might find the platform somewhat tricky.

Since the platform hosts a plethora of features, it appears as though the exchange isn’t easy to use. However, that’s not entirely the case. Once you get accustomed to the platform, you will find it to be user-friendly.

How to Buy Crypto on Kraken?

Purchasing crypto on Kraken isn’t an instant process. For example, to buy Bitcoin on Kraken, you have to:

• Create a verified account;
• Deposit fiat currency via a bank transfer;
• Wait 1-5 business days for the deposit to reach your Kraken account;
• Exchange your fiat currency for crypto.

All this is a time-consuming process that isn’t for someone who’s looking to trade in cryptocurrencies right away. Once your account is created, you can buy crypto on Kraken in three different ways:

• Fidor Bank AG SEPA: A cross-border bank transfer — the fastest and most cost-effective option for Euros.
• Fidor Bank AG Wire Transfer: This is for international users.
• SMBC (SWIFT): This is no longer available after 20th March 2018.

Which Currencies Can You Buy on Kraken?

Once you’ve set up your Kraken account, you can buy the most popular cryptocurrencies on Kraken, such as:

Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Augur, Ripple, Stellar, Ether, Ether Classic, Iconomi, Tether, Dash, Zcash, Monero, Gnosis, EOS, and Bitcoin Cash.

Is Kraken Safe?

In short, yes, Kraken is safe. When monetary funds are involved, the primary motive is to safeguard those funds and not have anyone steal them, whether online or offline; investing in any entity comes with its set of challenges.

Similarly, when you’re investing in a crypto exchange, you expect the crypto exchange to keep your funds safe. The last thing you want is the crypto exchange for having inferior cybersecurity in place that would risk your funds.

While buying and selling cryptocurrencies on Kraken is safe, you should always store your cryptocurrency in a secure crypto wallet. Crypto exchanges are susceptible to hacks despite the intense security, so you shouldn’t have your crypto stored on the exchange.

In a Nutshell

Kraken is a reputable crypto exchange and a key player in the crypto industry. Kraken is best if you’re an experienced crypto trader looking for advanced features such as margin and exposure to additional coins. Employ a VPN that will encrypt your entire internet connection for extra security, keeping your online activities safe from eavesdroppers.