Poloniex vs Kraken | One Exchange Wins Most Categories
Jack Moreau
Feb 2024
9 min read
Fact checked
Poloniex vs Kraken: Our team has done the legwork to compare these two popular exchanges. We've analyzed everything from signup and KYC, product range, trading fees and user experience. Keep reading to discover which exchange offers the best value for your crypto trading needs!
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
While Poloniex was founded in 2014 by Tristan D'Agosta, Kraken was established in 2011 by Jesse Powell.
Both exchanges offer a range of trading options, but they differ in terms of their user base, available countries, and cryptocurrency offerings.
Poloniex is primarily known for its wide selection of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum and many altcoins.
The exchange supports over 350 cryptocurrencies and facilitates spot, margin, and futures trading with up to 100X leverage.
Poloniex exchange
Poloniex has an estimated 1 million users around the world and supports users in most countries, except for those in the US, China, and OFAC countries.
The Poloniex app has been downloaded over 500,000 times and has an average 3.8 star rating based on 9,000 reviews.
Poloniex app
On the other hand, Kraken is a leading cryptocurrency exchange that is known for its security, reliability, and wide range of supported crypto and fiat currencies.
The platform offers various services such as spot trading, margin trading, futures trading and staking.
Kraken exchange
The exchange is also highly regarded for its commitment to regulatory compliance and robust security measures.
Kraken has over 9 million users mainly based across North America and Europe and but it supports users in over 190 countries.
The Kraken app has been downloaded over 1 million times and has a strong 4.3 star rating with over 20,000 reviews.
Kraken app
Poloniex vs Kraken Signup & KYC
If you're looking to sign up for either Poloniex or Kraken, it's important to understand their KYC requirements and signup processes.
Poloniex is somewhat unique in that it does not require KYC verification for users to deposit and trade cryptocurrencies.
This makes it a great option for those who prioritize privacy and anonymity. The signup process on Poloniex is quick and easy taking less than a minute to complete.
Poloniex signup
Once registered, users can immediately start trading and withdrawing cryptocurrencies without needing to complete KYC verification.
In contrast, Kraken requires all users to verify their identity through a KYC process in order to access their services.
Kraken KYC
While signing up for Kraken takes less than a minute, users can complete basic verification (starter) in 2 minutes. Users that wish to complete the intermediate verification also have to provide their ID.
Poloniex vs Kraken Products & Services
Poloniex and Kraken each offer a range of products and services to satisfy the needs of traders and investors.
Poloniex offers spot and futures trading, grid trading, the option to buy crypto with a card, launchpad, earn products and NFTs.
Poloniex earn
The exchange's user experience may not be very polished but it is easy to navigate and the exchange offers a decent range of products and features.
The average daily spot volume on Poloniex is around $80 to $100 million which is quite average. The exchange also offers futures leverage up to 100X with support for cross margin leverage up to 3x.
Poloniex spot trading
On the other hand, Kraken offers spot trading for hundreds of cryptocurrencies, cash-settled futures with monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and perpetual maturities plus margin trading. The exchange also offers staking (for non-US users) and an NFT marketplace.
Kraken orderbook
For institutional clients, Kraken also offers an OTC desk and 24/7 account management teams.
Kraken OTC
Kraken's user experience is designed with beginners in mind making buying and selling cryptocurrencies simple for everyday users. However, they also offer some leveraged products for more sophisticated traders.
Kraken buy and sell crypto
In terms of liquidity, Kraken frequently ranks in the top 10 with daily spot trading volumes ranging from $300 to $600 million.
The maximum leverage that users can take on Kraken is 50X and 5X in terms of margin leverage. Users can also earn interest on their digital assets on Kraken in a simple and safe manner.
Kraken earn products
Poloniex offers a more basic user experience in general while providing a solid range of cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, Kraken focuses on offering spot and margin trading with a limited range of products but a user-friendly experience.
Let's dive into the world of cryptocurrency trading fees and compare Poloniex and Kraken.
Poloniex charges a 0.145% maker fee and a 0.16% taker fee for spot trading with a 0.02% and 0.05% fee for futures trading.
These fees can be lowered if you have a monthly trading volume exceeding $50,000 or a TRX balance of over $49.
Poloniex spot fees
On the other hand, Kraken charges a 0.16% maker fee and a 0.26% taker fee for spot trading with a 0.02% and 0.05% fee for futures trading.
Similar to Poloniex, Kraken also offers rebates based on trading volume with the first threshold being at $50,000.
Kraken spot fees
As we can see, both platforms offer similar fees for futures trading while Poloniex offers slightly lower spot fees. Both exchanges also offer lower trading for those who trade for over $50,000 during a 30-day window.
When it comes to depositing funds on cryptocurrency exchanges, it's important to consider the available deposit methods and fees. Let's take a look at the options for Poloniex and Kraken.
Poloniex doesn't support deposits for any fiat currencies which means that users can't deposit USD or EUR directly on the exchange.
Instead, you'll need to deposit cryptocurrency or buy crypto with a credit card through a third-party provider like Simplex.
Buy crypto with Simplex on Poloniex
Fiat deposits is one area where Kraken excels with support for 7 fiat currencies including USD, EUR, CAD, AUD, GBP, CHF, and JPY. The exchange accepts a variety of deposit methods such as Fedwire, SWIFT, ACH, SEPA, FPS and more.
Kraken fiat deposits
What's more, if you're depositing funds in USD, EUR, or CAD via bank transfer (ACH) or SEPA, the deposit is free of charge.
If you're depositing funds via SWIFT, expect to pay a fee of $4 USD. However, these fees are fairly reasonable compared to some other exchanges.
Poloniex as you may have gussed does not offer any fiat withdrawals either. This means that users can only withdraw cryptocurrencies from the exchange.
When it comes to withdrawing Bitcoin, the fee associated with this is 0.0005 BTC.
Withdrawing ETH comes with a fee of 0.0032 ETH while those who want to withdrawal Solana from the exchange will have to pay a fee of 0.01 SOL.
On the other hand, Kraken offers fiat withdrawals in all the 7 currencies that they support.
You can withdraw USD via ACH and SWIFT, EUR via SEPA and GBP via FPS for 1.95 GBP. There is no fee for ACH withdrawals but SEPA withdrawals have a fee of 0.9 EUR.
For cryptocurrency withdrawals, Kraken charges 0.00001 BTC for Bitcoin, 0.0035 ETH for Ethereum, 0.01 SOL for Solana, and 3.55 USDT for ERC-20 USDT.
Overall, if you're looking for an exchange that offers fiat withdrawals, Kraken is clearly the better choice.
In conclusion, both Poloniex and Kraken are popular cryptocurrency exchanges with their unique features and benefits.
Poloniex supports over 350 cryptocurrencies and offers spot, margin, and futures trading.
Kraken offers a more limited range of 190 crypto and fiat currencies, as well as various trading options like spot, margin, and futures trading, and staking.
Poloniex offers lower spot trading fees at 0.15% while the futures fees on Poloniex and Kraken are identical.
Poloniex doesn't support fiat deposits while Kraken offers deposit options in 7 fiat currencies and withdrawal options in all of them.
The winner in this comparison is Kraken as it's over the safer and more versatile exchange that caters to a wider audience of beginners and investors.
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
Author
Jack Moreau
Jack is a crypto writer and reviewer who has been active in the space since he caught the crypto bug in 2017. With a passion for trying out new shiny things, Jack is always eager to try the latest cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets or DeFi applications.
