Binance vs Kraken

Binance and Kraken are both custodial crypto exchanges with spot and futures markets, but where you live decides most of this comparison. Binance is many times larger and cheaper for spot trading, yet it does not take new users in the US or the UK. Kraken holds licences or registrations in the US, UK and EU, charges more for spot at low volumes, and offers futures in fewer countries.

The Short Version

• Fees: futures match at the entry tier (0.02% maker, 0.05% taker). Spot is 0.10% on Binance against 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker on Kraken Pro.
• Size: as at 12 October 2026, Binance's derivatives open interest is about 64 times Kraken's.
• Access: Kraken serves the US (except New York and Maine), the UK and the EU. Binance.com does not serve the US and has not taken new UK users since 2023.
• Futures: neither offers crypto futures to UK retail traders. Kraken's derivatives are also unavailable in Canada and New Zealand.
• Campaigns: five live on Binance in our calendar, one on Kraken.

Fees

All figures are as at 12 October 2026, for the lowest volume tier.

	Binance	Kraken
Futures maker / taker	0.02% / 0.05%	0.02% / 0.05%
Spot maker / taker	0.10% / 0.10%	0.40% / 0.80%
Token discount	10% off futures, 25% off spot in BNB	None

Binance's figures come from its futures fee table, its futures fee guide for the BNB discount, and its spot fee schedule. Kraken's come from its fee schedule, which sets your tier by 30-day spot volume, futures volume or assets held, whichever ranks higher. The same page lists a 1% fee on instant buys in the Kraken app, plus a spread, and app perps at 0.25% to open and 0.25% to close where they are offered.

On a $1,000 spot market order, a new Binance user pays $1.00, or $0.75 in BNB. On Kraken Pro the same order costs $8.00. On a $10,000 futures order the taker fee is $5.00 at both, or $4.50 on Binance with BNB.

What You Can Trade

Binance offers spot, USDⓈ-M and COIN-M futures, options and earn products. Its current Stocks Welcome Rewards campaign (Binance) covers tokenised stocks and stock options.

Kraken runs Kraken Pro for spot and margin and Kraken Futures for perpetuals. Its fee schedule also lists commission-free trading in more than 11,000 US stocks and ETFs, for US clients only, and xStocks, tokenised shares sold where eligible. Margin carries an opening fee and a rollover fee every four hours, 0.02% to 0.04% each on most assets.

Liquidity and Volume

As at 12 October 2026, CoinGecko lists 803 perpetual pairs on Binance and 285 on Kraken. Binance's 24-hour spot volume of $6.47 billion is about ten times Kraken's $610 million, and CoinGecko gives both spot exchanges a trust score of 10. The table above shows open interest and derivatives volume.

For major pairs both are deep. The gap matters for large orders and for smaller altcoins, where you should check the order book first. Our guide on reading volume and open interest explains the measures, and the crypto exchange rankings show both in context.

Campaigns and Rewards

Binance has five live campaigns in our calendar as at 12 October 2026:

• Spot Trading Tournament Season 4: 9 to 16 October, up to 400 BNB in vouchers, $500 minimum volume, not open in the EEA (Binance).
• Binance Alpha STABLE Trading Competition: two weekly rounds to 23 October, with the 2,000 largest buyers each round sharing 3,850,000 STABLE.
• Hold RLUSD to Share $800,000 in XRP: weekly airdrops to 23 October.
• Stocks Welcome Rewards: to 30 October, including 150 to 12,000 USDC for moving US stocks in from another broker.
• October Referral Tournament: to 31 October; new users who join through a Referral Pro link can get up to 15 USDC (Binance).

Kraken has one: The Pre-IPO Challenge, a $10,000 USDG leaderboard on OURAx and MOONSHOTx perps from 6 October to 6 November. You must enrol before trading and reach $10,000 in volume. It excludes the UK, EEA, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (Kraken). Kraken's referral programme pays you and a friend up to $100 each once the friend signs up in the app, deposits cash and meets the offer terms within 15 days.

Competitions reward volume, and trading more to climb a leaderboard can cost more in fees and losses than the prize. Read how trading competitions work first.

Who Can Sign Up

Binance.com does not serve the US. Binance.US is run by BAM Trading Services, which its terms describe as separate from Binance Holdings. Binance stopped accepting new UK users on 16 October 2023, and existing UK users keep only the services they already had. Its current campaign announcements state that they are not available to users in the EEA. Its tournament rules are open only to verified users.

Kraken's licence page says it does not serve clients in 14 regions, including Russia, Belarus, Iran, Japan and North Korea, and in the US it does not serve residents of New York or Maine. Canadian clients cannot use margin or derivatives. Kraken Derivatives is unavailable in Australia (except wholesale clients), Canada, New Zealand and the UK, where only professional clients can trade through Crypto Facilities Limited.

UK retail traders cannot buy crypto futures at either venue: the FCA banned crypto derivatives for retail clients from January 2021.

Regulation and Record

Binance lists its licences under Abu Dhabi's FSRA, through three ADGM entities. In November 2023 Binance and its founder settled with US authorities for more than $4.3 billion across agencies, including $2.85 billion to the CFTC. The SEC dismissed its case against Binance in May 2025. Binance publishes proof of reserves.

Kraken, which dates from 2011, lists an EU MiCA licence from the Central Bank of Ireland, FCA registration in the UK, a CFTC-registered futures broker and an SEC-registered broker-dealer in the US on its licence page. It paid $1.25 million to the CFTC in 2021 over margin trading, $362,158.70 to OFAC in 2022 over Iran sanctions, and $30 million to the SEC in 2023 over its staking programme. The SEC dismissed a later case in March 2025. Kraken publishes proof of reserves.

Both hold your assets for you, so you rely on their security and solvency.

Which Fits Which Trader

• Traders in the US can use Kraken in most states, including for futures. Binance.com is not an option.
• Traders in the UK or EU have a licensed route at Kraken. Binance does not take new UK users and excludes the EEA from its current campaigns.
• High-frequency spot traders elsewhere pay much less at Binance's entry tier, and less again in BNB.
• Futures traders pay the same entry fees at both. Binance lists more pairs and deeper markets.
• Competition hunters will find far more on Binance. Compare it with Binance vs Bybit, or see all live trading competitions.

This comparison is information, not financial advice. Trading carries risk, and fees and terms change: check each venue's own pages before you trade.