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Beginner Friendliness
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Available Cryptocurrencies
Kraken Bitcoin Exchange Review 2018
Kraken is one of the largest Bitcoin exchange in euro volume and liquidity. Founded in 2011 by Jesse Powell who is also the current CEO, the Bitcoin exchange allows trading of Canadian dollars, US dollars, British pounds and Japanese Yen. In 2013, Kraken Bitcoin Exchange went into Open Beta and was named as one of the most important Bitcoin companies.
It was also the first exchange to switch to standard Bitcoin currency code XBT in 2013. This led to an exclusive partnership with BaFin which regulated Fidor Bank a month later. On October 2013, the former COO of Kraken Bitcoin Exchange, Michael Gronager discovered a fatal flaw in Namecoin protocol. This flaw would have resulted in transaction malleability where a transaction ID could be changed under certain limited conditions.
At the start of 2017, Kraken launched Monero trading and New Trade Platform. This was followed by the acquisition of Cryptowatch.
Products & Services
Based in San Francisco, Kraken provides a platform for Cryptocurrency trading and exchange of multiple currencies. As a result, users have the ability of buying and selling cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ripple, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Dash, Augur Rep Tokens, Melon, Zcash and EOS among others. Apart from that, Kraken also allows trading with monetary currencies using Euros, US dollars, Canadian dollars, British pounds and Japanese yen.
To trade with the platform, the first step begins with the order form. You can select order types and leveraged margin trading. Furthermore, the Bitcoin exchange allows you to view recent orders, trades and positions. These orders are available on the lower right corner of the trader’s dashboard.
To select currency pairs, you can do so by navigating to the upper left corner of your dashboard. With the new interface, traders are assured of safety and intuitive controls making trading a fun activity.
Registration and Sign In
To start trading at Kraken, you have to open an account. Two types of accounts are available – basic or advanced. Information required for the basic account includes full name, date of birth, address and phone number. In the advanced account, a government issued ID and proof of residency will be required. For example if you are residing in the US, your SSN will be required. For residents in Germany and Japan, ID confirmation will be required. Once you have verified all the details, you can fund the account with cryptocurrencies or cash.
Security
Trading with cryptocurrencies and cash carries a lot of risk and to ensure traders are protected, Kraken developers have engineered advanced tools to secure the account. Users can make their accounts more secure by creating Two-factor authentication for account login and funding. The email tied to one’s Kraken account should also be secured using two-factor authentication. A master key must also be created for account recovery. This applies to basic accounts.
For advanced accounts, users can create additional two factor authentication security, lock the account with global settings and also use PGP key to receive encrypted email.
Pricing
When it comes to pricing, Kraken fees are charged as a percentage of the trade’s quote currency volume. The system allows fees to be calculated based on the trade’s base currency. Furthermore, fees are also charged on a per-trade basis. To learn more about Kraken’s pricing, visit the following link.
Final Thoughts
As one of the best Bitcoin exchanges, Kraken is designed for serious and professional cryptocurrencies traders. Users have the ability of making deposits using cash or cryptocurrencies. They can also withdraw their earnings in cash or a Cryptocurrency of their choice. Reasonable fees for deposits, withdrawals and trades are charged by the platform making it one of the best Cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
