When you are trying to choose a primary cryptocurrency exchange for your trading activities, the names of Binance and Kraken make their presence known throughout the web. As two of the most popular crypto exchanges in the world, both platforms boast a loyal user base, significant credibility, and full support for trading bots.
Due to these reasons, it can be difficult for you to determine which exchange is a better fit for you. But it is not an impossible decision to make when you have the necessary details laid out side by side.
To help you make an informed decision, here is a detailed comparison of Binance vs Kraken. By going through the following information, you can easily decide which platform is more suitable for your trading needs.
⌛ Reputation and Time in Business
Founded in 2017, Binance holds the status of being one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. While Binance’s main platform offers cryptocurrency trading services across the globe, it has a different division that caters to people in the United States.
Due to regulatory compliance issues, Binance created its U.S. arm by the name of Binance.US in late 2019. With a focus on complying with local laws and regulations, Binance.US offers cryptocurrency trading solutions across all but 6 states in the U.S.
Despite its global popularity, Binance has run into various reputational issues over the years. From being sued by traders after a major outage to being accused of weak money laundering checks, the exchange has had its fair share of controversies. With that being said, Binance’s lack of pristine reputation has not had much effect on traders’ preference to use it. This makes it the top cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trading volume.
On the other hand, Kraken was founded in 2011, which makes it more than a decade-old institution in the cryptocurrency industry. The exchange offers its services all around the world, which also includes all but two states in the U.S. This makes the comparison of Binance vs Kraken quite similar in this regard.
Kraken has also gone through a host of legal issues in the past, with one of the most recent problems being its refusal to comply with a New York attorney general’s inquiry about its solutions. But in spite of legal troubles, the exchange still maintains its status as a highly credible cryptocurrency trading platform.
At the time of writing, Kraken stands out as being one of the Top 10 cryptocurrency exchanges in the world by trading volume. This gives it a distinction that trails behind Binance in reputation but still makes it stand out from a sea of crypto exchanges. This makes Kraken a suitable choice of a cryptocurrency trading platform for a host of traders.
🤖 Trading Bot Support via API
Both Binance and Kraken offer trading bot support. Similar to other reputable exchanges, the platforms achieve this feat through the integration of application programming interface (API) keys.
Through API keys, you can control which parts of your account information are shared with the trading bot. At the same time, you don’t have to share your exchange account’s login credentials with the trading bot program. This adds much-needed security to the process of using trading bots.
Seeing that both Binance and Kraken are highly popular exchanges, an abundance of trading bots offer seamless connectivity to these platforms. This includes a variety of reliable and renowned trading bot solutions, which makes it easier for you to take your pick of the litter.
When making a comparison between Binance vs Kraken trading bots, you can also select between trading bots that work through the cloud or need installation on your computer. In turn, you can rest assured to find a trading bot that truly works for your needs without any compromise.
⚙️ Trading Modes and Features
Both Binance and Kraken come laden with a host of trading modes and features. In fact, this is another one of those aspects where the exchanges stand side by side in terms of their offered solutions such as over-the-counter (OTC) trading.
Binance Trading Modes and Features
- Spot Trading
- Margin Trading
- Futures Trading
- Options Trading
- OTC Trading
- Staking
- Trading Bot Support
- Mobile Apps
- Binance Academy Knowledge Base
Kraken Trading Modes and Features
- Spot Trading
- Margin Trading
- Futures Trading
- OTC Trading
- Staking
- Trading Bot Support
- Mobile Apps
- Consultation Services
It is important to note that when it comes to using the exchanges’ services in the U.S., you may not be able to utilize all of these solutions. For instance, Binance.US does not offer futures or margin trading, while Kraken’s services in the U.S. do not include futures trading and have restrictions on margin trading. This outlines the comparison of Binance vs Kraken in the U.S. to return similar results of restricted or limited services.
🦾 In-house Automated Trading
In the recent past, the concept of trading bots has evolved to the point where some cryptocurrency exchanges are expected to offer their own trading bots with their conventional trading solutions. When it comes to Binance and Kraken, both of these exchanges do not offer their own in-house automated trading bots.
With that being said, Binance and Kraken make it a point to support trading bots that are made by third-party clients. As mentioned above, this support comes in the form of fully-functional API keys that allow trading bot software to connect to the respective exchange.
Binance has a Broker Partner program in place that supports trading bots such as 3Commas and highlights their services for Binance’s user base. Whereas, Kraken’s trading bot partners outline solutions such as HaasOnline for its customers to benefit from in the long run.
💸 Trading and Withdrawal Fees
When it comes to trading and withdrawal fees, Binance and Kraken present distinct differences between their overall pricing and charges.
Binance Fees
Standard Trading Fee: For users who do not use the Binance Coin (BNB) native token to pay trading fees, a 0.1% fee on each trade is applied.
Trading Fee: Maker fee ranges from 0.1%-0.02%; Taker fee ranges from 0.1%-0.04%. The tiers depend upon your 30-day trading volume on the exchange.
Withdrawal Fee: The fee to withdraw your cryptocurrency is dynamically calculated according to market conditions.
BNB Discounts: Using Binance’s native token to pay trading fees not only cuts the 0.1% trading fee, but also lets you earn a 25% discount on maker/taker fee. For a detailed breakdown of charges and make a comparison between Binance vs Kraken, you need to check the Binance fee schedule. These fees are different for Binance.US.
Kraken Fees
Trading Fee: Maker fee ranges from 0.02%-0.00%; Taker fee ranges from 0.05%-0.01%. The tiers for these fees are dependent on your 30-day trading volume on the platform.
Minimum Trading Fee: There is a minimum trading fee that applies to all transactions. This fee is charged if your trade percentage fee falls below the minimum threshold.
Withdrawal Fee: The fee to withdraw your cryptocurrency is preset, but also has the stipulation of the minimum threshold amount.
To make sure that you understand all the charges such as those related to cash withdrawals, you need to go through the Kraken fee schedule. This gives you a detailed overview of all the fees that you may need to cover while trading on the platform.
📊 Trading Pairs and Volumes
When it comes to trading volume, Binance stands out as the top dog in the cryptocurrency industry. Whereas, Kraken also maintains its position as one of the Top 10 exchanges by trading volume.
In terms of trading pairs, Binance provides you with access to over 500 trading pairs. On the other hand, Kraken has over 130 trading pairs and keeps adding to that list. This is a highly important point to keep in mind while comparing Binance vs Kraken.
👩💻 Customer Support
Binance’s customer support comprises live chat, knowledge base, and a ticketing system. This provides you with multiple avenues to get answers to your inquiries and resolve your concerns.
Kraken’s customer support provides you with access to live chat, knowledge base, ticketing solution, and phone support. This offers ideal assistance to address your issues and find timely resolutions to them.
👍 Pros and Cons of Each Exchange
Similar to any other provider in the industry, both Binance and Kraken have their own pros and cons.
Binance
Pros
- Extensive list of trading pairs
- Host of trading features
- Advanced trading interface
- Low trading fee with BNB usage
Cons
- Different platform for U.S. traders
- Difficult to use for beginners
Kraken
Pros
- Well-curated trading pairs
- Variety of trading options
- Intuitive trading interface
- Friendly for beginners
Cons
- Limitations for U.S. traders
- Not as much choice in trading pairs
This means that when it comes to making a selection between both of these credible platforms, the actual decision depends upon your trading experience as well as your plans on using certain trading features such as the utilization of BNB for paying the Binance trading fee.
📢 Conclusion
Both Binance and Kraken bring a variety of dependable features to the table. But the decision to use either of these platforms is tied to your comfort with their offered interface, functionality, as well as their overall services. If you prefer a certain trading bot that only works with one of these platforms, that might also act as a decision-making factor.
You can also start small on either of these platforms, try their features out for yourself in real-time, and make a decision about which fee structure, as well as service quality, works the best for you.
Whatever decision you end up making, ensure that you are only using those funds for trading that you can easily afford to lose. This makes sure that you don’t drive yourself into financial difficulties and only reap the positive rewards of cryptocurrency trading.