Kraken Reviews 

My least favorite exchange, too much friction completing transactions and lost bitcoin from your stupid min transaction requirements you didn’t advertise until after I approved the transaction and it was lost. Still pissed about that one. Referred a friend and never got rewards from it and another friend we were cheated from your false advertising on referral rewards so pretty much go bless your heart yourselves because you say one thing and then that’s not how it works not even close so I mainly use other exchanges. I’d be truly shocked if you made everything right be currently I tell everyone to stay away from kraken. Good day

The referral bonus promised was not given to the full amount, and customer service refused to even acknowledge the issue. Additionally, my bonus from Free cash was not given either, Kraken customer service said they would get back to me but never did. 0/10 for transparency and adherence to their own policies.

A few warnings. Don't bother trying to take advantage of the referral bonus with a significant other or other member of the household. It won't work on same IP address. And their lil spin daily bonus thing is probably rigged. I'm on day 4 in a row of getting the frownie face win nothing spin. At first I was getting 1-2$ each day, so I thought it was awesome and left a great review now I'm 4 days in a row with nothing and expecting to get the frownie face tomorrow too. I still like the app for crypto and trade potential....but....

Regarding the referral, i find it ridiculous how there would be an offer to have a friend referred with a promise of a 100€ bonus, but later or only give 5€, that is devious, that is a lie, 5€ doesnt even cover the deposit fees, , i understand how it would probably be mentioned in the terms and conditions, but the initial icon saying “Get 100€”, is misleading.

I used their referral program to bring 4 new accounts to them. After making sure those new accounts all completed the requirements and recieved their bonus for joining, Kraken denied my referral bonus based off claims that they had not promised any bonus to the referrer even though I provided several screenshots of that exact promise.

I like it very easy to use, invited my fiancé to it but still haven’t received the referral yet

So I sent my referral link to my brother through Messenger, and he cliked the link and created an account on Kraken! The requirements is that my Brother should spend 200 Euro within 21 days for us both to be allegeable for the Referral Bonus! He spend the 200 Euro within 21 days and we DID not get anything.
I create a support ticket, explaining this, showing them screenshot of February 6th 2026, that I sent the Referral link, which my brother user. But because He DID NOT download Kraken APP first, then pressed the link it did not get through. I was waiting 3 days for an answer, and I just got a reply "In this case, the referral did not quilify under our Terms of Service and NO more explanation.

KRAKEN, DO NOT CARE ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE! What is the problem, you want people to spend money on your Exchange and you cheat your own customers!

I love Kraken because the site is easy to use and navigate. The layout is colorful and fun. Also, the sign up and referral bonuses are great! They also send out emails regularly keeping you up to date with what is happening in the crypto markets.

I was not given the referral bonus after using my friend's referral code.

I have traded for last 5 years .. I trade on numerous platforms.. kraken is only used as I can send australian dollars here .. compared to other platforms..
Way too clunky for trading..
Fees too high
Very slow..
No referral bonuses
Sorry forgot to mention i only use the kraken pro app...

Hope this helps

I think Kraken uses BS tactics and promotions to get people to join, then doesn't follow through. I read the guidelines for the promotion. It said I had 30 days to deposit $3 00 and buy $300 in crypto which I did. But since it was on January 5th that I got my referral link for the promotion. Supposedly I only had 10 days. That should have been right out in front bold writing saying I had 10 days because I thought I had 30 days for the $125. I never would have deposited $300 into the account if I would have known that. I was going to use it but now I'll just wait till my money gets back up to where it should be and then go from there. I don't like BS tactics from a company that's supposed to handle money or deal with money. My money!

Update:
Please stop asking me to DM you, They do not answer your messages

The company that doesn’t respond to you.
The company that claims to have technical issues whenever you try to contact support.
The company that employs people to copy and paste replies without even reading the messages.
The company that promises you a referral bonus, then closes your account — and the accounts of the people you referred — without paying it once all the conditions have been met (and apparently doesn’t even respond to this point, not even in reviews).
The company that personally targets your relatives when you try to assert your rights.
The company that does not respect local and regional laws.
The company that ignores complaints.
The company that sends you two emails — one in French and one in English — that contradict each other on the same subject.
The company that confirms receipt of your complaint with an email written half in French and half in English.
The company that literally lies by claiming the money was returned, when that is simply false — especially considering that it is usually an instant transfer, and it has already been four days since I received their email informing me that the money had been sent.

My Experience With Kraken

This was my second attempt at using Kraken, and unfortunately, it has been just as disappointing as the first.

With my initial account, I was hacked shortly after signing up. As a result, I was locked out of my account for 13 days. During that time, I was supposed to be receiving promotional spins for new users. Even though the lockout was entirely due to the hack and not any fault of my own, Kraken refused to credit me for the spins I missed. Because of this, I chose to close the account.

After a couple of weeks, I decided to give Kraken another chance and opened a new account using a referral bonus. That bonus was denied because I had previously held an account—even though the original account had only been open briefly and was closed due to the hacking issue. I was frustrated but decided to continue using the platform to see if things would improve.

I staked cryptocurrency on the platform, believing I would be using Kraken long-term. I also opened one of their promotional “Crates,” which initially showed a $125 bonus. However, Kraken later changed or enforced conditions that made the bonus effectively impossible to claim. They required deposited funds to remain untouched for 21 days. I have a revolving account where funds regularly move in and out, and because I transferred the promotional deposit instead of leaving it completely untouched, the bonus was removed. I do not feel this was fair or clearly communicated.

Later, I unstaked my crypto because I needed access to the funds. After waiting the required 21 days, I attempted to withdraw on day 21, only to be told I had to wait an additional two days due to a hold on my account. This hold was caused by a failed $5 deposit from Chime, which never cleared and left my account temporarily overdrawn by $1—even though I had sufficient funds available from my unstaked crypto.

It ultimately took seven more days to have the restriction lifted. In total, I waited nearly 28–29 days just to regain access to my own funds. Throughout this process, reaching customer support was extremely difficult.

Once everything was resolved, I asked again about the $125 bonus. That’s when I was informed of additional requirements, including maintaining a specific balance for a set period. However, I did have funds held for more than 21 days due to the staking lockup. Despite this, the bonus was still denied, which I do not understand.

At this point, I am unsure if I will continue using Kraken. In my experience, the platform has found multiple ways to restrict access to my money while claiming I could trade freely—even though I couldn’t deposit additional funds to trade with. Trading with less than $100 under these conditions is not practical.

Overall, Kraken has not felt user-friendly, transparent, or consistent with its promotions. The terms are difficult to track, support is hard to reach, and there appears to be little effort to make things right when issues occur. I tried to use Kraken and its available services in good faith, but the experience has not worked well for me.

This is simply my honest opinion as a user.

you ended up limiting my account said i was a target for scammers and now have closed my account

Two main issue I've encountered is one, not getting paid for a referral which is unacceptable two instead of rewards programs being automatically added to your account they are found in a section that isn't seen and you have to manually activate the reward. If I don't even know it exists how am I supposed to know I need to activate it but the main reason I wouldn't recommend is the fact that I was flat out told I wasn't going to get paid for the referral because the terms and conditions says they can refuse at any time for whatever reason.

Firstly, my girlfriend’s account was banned.
Secondly, my own account—after more than 7 years of use—was banned.
Thirdly, just today, a close friend made a deposit and his funds were immediately blocked.

Kraken claims that the funds were “sent back,” which is factually false, and then blocks access to customer support, preventing any verification or challenge.

I thank Kraken for banning yet another person close to me — this only adds further evidence that when you assert your rights (such as requesting a transfer recall), the response is retaliatory rather than compliant.

I also wish to clarify that I recently referred my girlfriend and several others through Kraken’s referral program. Beyond the blocking of our own legitimate funds, there are repeated false claims that withdrawals were completed when they were not. These withdrawals are normally instant — until accounts are suddenly disabled.

All of our accounts were closed shortly after, seemingly to avoid paying the promised referral rewards, amounting to misleading commercial practices.

I will ensure this story is shared with the media and legal professionals.
Lying, literally, is something I do not tolerate.

After 7+ years using Kraken without major issues, I experienced a series of serious failures within a single week:
• A SEPA Instant transfer (private loan, clearly stated) was neither credited nor rejected
• The recipient’s account was blocked and then closed, while funds remained unavailable
• Shortly after, my own long-standing account was also closed
• Requests for fund return and a SEPA recall on another transfer were refused or left without clear justification
• Support became ineffective once regulatory obligations were raised

Additionally, Kraken actively promotes a referral program, yet when referred accounts are blocked and closed without transparency, referral rewards are never paid — raising legitimate concerns about misleading or unfair commercial practices.

This raises serious compliance, transparency, and fund-safeguarding questions that I hope Kraken will address promptly.

In the absence of a written and satisfactory response within fifteen (15) days of receipt of this letter, I will escalate this matter to the competent consumer protection and financial supervisory authorities, as well as to the appropriate mediator, without prejudice to any further legal remedies available to me.

I remain willing to resolve this matter amicably and promptly, provided that transparency, proportionality, and consumer rights are respected.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to submit this formal complaint regarding serious and ongoing issues involving Kraken accounts and payment transactions in which I am directly concerned.

After using Kraken for over 7 years without major issues, it is deeply concerning that all of these operational failures and account blocks occurred within a single week, demonstrating a level of incompetence that I had never encountered on your platform.

However, since yesterday, one individual close to me, whom I referred to Kraken under your referral program, has had their account blocked following the receipt of a SEPA Instant Credit Transfer that I initiated from my bank account.
This transfer corresponded to a short-term private loan between individuals, explicitly stated as such in the transfer reference.

To date, the following issues remain unresolved:
• The SEPA Instant Credit Transfer concerned has been neither credited nor formally rejected, despite the regulatory requirement for near-immediate execution or rejection;
• The recipient account remains blocked without clear, specific, and individualized written justification for the measures taken;
• Despite an explicit request for account closure and reimbursement of the funds to the original sending account, the funds remain unavailable and no processing timeline has been communicated;
• Access to customer support has been restricted or rendered ineffective once legal and regulatory obligations were raised, which constitutes an unacceptable obstruction to dispute resolution.

In addition to the above, I wish to raise a separate and distinct issue concerning another SEPA transfer, unrelated to the transaction described above:
• With respect to this other transfer, I formally requested Kraken to initiate or cooperate in a SEPA recall procedure;
• Kraken has refused to initiate or engage in such a recall process, without providing any clear, written, or legally substantiated justification for this refusal.

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Identification details (redacted for public sharing)

For clarity, the relevant identifiers have been removed in this public version.

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Regulatory concerns

These practices raise serious concerns with regard to applicable European and national regulations, including but not limited to:
• The SEPA Instant Credit Transfer Rulebook (European Payments Council), which requires instant credit transfers to be executed within seconds or rejected immediately where execution is not possible;
• Directive (EU) 2015/2366 (PSD2 / DSP2), which requires payment service providers to act transparently, proportionately, and without undue delay when executing, rejecting, or handling payment transactions and related requests;
• Legal obligations relating to the safeguarding and timely restitution of client funds, which prohibit unjustified retention of customer funds;
• EU consumer protection rules, including provisions relating to misleading or unfair commercial practices, insofar as accounts created under publicly advertised referral programs appear to be affected without substantiated justification.

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Formal request

By means of this letter, I hereby formally request that Kraken:
1. Provide a clear, written, and legally grounded explanation for the account block applied;
2. Proceed without delay either with the effective crediting of the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer concerned or with its formal rejection in accordance with applicable regulations;
3. Execute the requested account closure and return the funds to the original sending account without further delay;
4. With respect to the separate transfer, either initiate or formally cooperate in the appropriate SEPA recall procedure, or provide a detailed written legal justification explaining the refusal to do so;
5. Clarify the status and applicability of the referral program in relation to the affected account.

In the absence of a written and satisfactory response within fifteen (15) days of receipt of this letter, I will have no alternative but to escalate this matter to the competent authorities in France and at the European level (including consumer protection bodies, financial supervisory authorities, and the competent mediator), without prejudice to any further legal action.

I remain willing to seek an amicable and prompt resolution of this matter, but I cannot accept prolonged silence, lack of transparency, or unjustified immobilization of funds.

Yours faithfully,

I was not able to send this using your form so i sent by email.

Deceiving practices with their referral schemes and hidden fees. Leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Don’t trust any exchanges to hold funds but trust ‘Kraken’ the least :)

Cheated myself and referral out of the $75 each sign up bonus, and hide behind “terms of service,” without explanation, and simply not offering a way forward to solve the problem. Ie not helpful, and leaves a lot to be desired. Happy to change my review if someone actually wants to talk to me and fix this. Because the communication and how myself and referall have been left high and dry is bullsh*t

My son opened up a Kraken account for me back in the Summer and I had to finish it by putting in my bank account info. I had no idea how to buy crypto and he was trying to help me. I deposited $1,000 into my account and waited to buy something and after waiting I get a reply that my account was suspicious and they were going to close it out. I then opened up an account under my husband's name, and used our bank account number since we have a shared account and deposited another $1,000 and waited to buy crypto. Once again I got a reply back that my account was suspicious and they were going to close my account, but before that happened I deposited another $1,000 into the account. After going back and forth numerous times with the agents, I was told my accounts were both closed and I had to wait to get my money back. I was charged fees for the transactions and also was given a $75 referral fee for bitcoin on my husband's account, so I had a loss on my original account and made a few dollars on my husband's account because of the bitcoin, but lost money also from the transaction fees. I finally received some money back into my bank account from Kraken and opened up an account from Coinbase and haven't had a bit of problem. My question is--I am trying to do my taxes and it asks if I had any digital or crypto account transactions and I don't know what to do with the Kraken account. Do I have to report it on my taxes if they canceled my account and I wasn't able to invest in anything? Does Kraken send out a 1099-Misc or whatever is required if I have to submit it on my taxes? This is holding me up on getting my taxes done and I don't know what to do. I don't feel that I should have to report it since my account was canceled and I never really got started with the account. Also, I can't get into my accounts because I don't remember my user name and passwords. I opened up my account under my name, Sharon, and then under my husband's name. So I see that this is written under Robert.