Kraken review: licences, fees and USDT withdrawals

Overview

Kraken is a crypto exchange run by companies of the Payward group. The pages we checked on 18 October 2026 give no founding year or head office, only “© 2011–2026 Payward, Inc.”. Which Payward company you deal with, and which authority oversees it, depends on where you live.

Licences and registrations

Kraken’s licence page and its legal disclosures list these companies:

• European Economic Area: Payward Europe Solutions Limited (crypto-asset service provider under MiCA, Central Bank of Ireland, C468360), Payward Global Solutions Limited (MiCA, trading platform, C559106) and Payward Ireland Limited (e-money institution, C453020). Derivatives are offered by Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Limited, licensed by CySEC (342/17).
• United Kingdom: Payward Limited is an FCA-registered cryptoasset firm (FRN 928768), a registration under anti-money-laundering rules rather than an authorisation; Payward Services Limited (e-money, FRN 1010381) and Crypto Facilities Limited (investment firm, FRN 757895) are FCA-authorised.
• United States and Canada: Payward Interactive, Inc. and Payward Financial, Inc. are registered with FinCEN as money services businesses; Payward Canada, Inc. is registered with FINTRAC.
• Australia: Bit Trade Pty Ltd is registered with AUSTRAC; derivatives for wholesale clients go through Beaufort Fiduciaries Pty Ltd (AFSL 545124), which Kraken calls a group company.
• Bermuda: Payward Digital Solutions Ltd holds a Class F digital asset business licence from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (202403268).
• Argentina: the Argentine branch of Payward Trading Limited is registered as a virtual asset service provider with the CNV; the CNV register lists it under No. 155.

We could not open the Irish or UK registers (the first blocks automated searches, the second showed a bot check), so most numbers come from Kraken’s own pages.

Which company serves you

Kraken’s global terms say that if you live “anywhere else in the world” (outside the US, UK, EEA, Canada and Brazil) your contract is with Payward Trading Ltd in the British Virgin Islands. Kraken’s pages name no licence for that company except its Argentine registration, and the licence page lists nothing in Africa or the Middle East. Kraken does not serve 13 countries, among them Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, South Sudan and Syria, nor three regions of Ukraine.

Trading fees

On Kraken Pro, the lowest spot tier (from $0 of 30-day volume) costs 0.40% for makers and 0.80% for takers. Buying instantly in the Kraken app costs a 1% fee (1.5% for custom orders) plus a spread built into the price.

USDT and other withdrawals

Kraken publishes a fee and a minimum for each network. For USDT: 1 USDT on Tron (TRC-20, minimum 6 USDT), 0.6132 USDT on Ethereum, 1.032 USDT on Solana, 0.1 USDT on TON (minimum 2.5 USDT), and 1 USDT on Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism and Avalanche. USDT on BNB Chain is not listed. Kraken says fees can change and the final fee is shown when you confirm. Clients in the EEA cannot deposit or trade USDT at all.

Local currency deposits

Besides USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD and CHF, Kraken accepts three Latin American currencies, each only in its own country:

• Brazil (PIX): from 50 BRL; deposits carry 0.3% IOF tax, withdrawals cost 0.50%.
• Mexico (SPEI): from 150 MXN; deposits are free, withdrawals cost 0.5%.
• Argentina (bank transfer): from 10,000 ARS; deposits are free, withdrawals cost 1.5%.

Visa and Mastercard can be used to buy crypto (from $10 in USD), but not to withdraw, and card purchases may trigger a 72-hour withdrawal hold.

Futures, staking and reserves

Kraken offers perpetual futures with up to 50x leverage in selected regions. Residents of Canada and UK retail clients cannot trade derivatives, and in the US futures go through a separate broker, NinjaTrader Clearing (Kraken Derivatives US). Leverage multiplies losses as well as gains, and Kraken itself warns of a high risk of rapid losses. Staking is also offered; rewards vary and the staked crypto can lose value. Kraken publishes a proof-of-reserves page with a snapshot dated 30 June 2026.

What we could not confirm

No peer-to-peer (P2P) market appears on the pages we checked. The AUSTRAC, FinCEN, FINTRAC and BMA numbers were not checked in those registers. We have not tested Kraken with our own account yet; this review will be updated when we do.