Kraken vs OKX

Kraken and OKX are both centralized exchanges that cover spot trading, futures and staking. Kraken holds a MiCA licence and offers a wider spot menu at 679 coins, while OKX runs cheaper spot fees, deeper derivatives and higher leverage.

Kraken vs OKX

Category	KKraken9.3/10	OOKX7.8/10
Overview
CryptoWinRate score	9.3/10 (higher)	7.8/10
Founded	2011	2017
Headquarters	San Francisco, USA	Seychelles
Founder	Jesse Powell	Star Xu
CEO	David Ripley	Star Xu
KYC	Required	Required
MiCA licence	Yes	No
EU platform	—	Via OKX EU
Regulator	Central Bank of Ireland (CBI)	—
Availability
Available in your country	—	—
Restricted countries	6 countries	49 countries
Deposits and withdrawals
Deposit methods	9 methods	8 methods
Withdrawal methods	7 methods	9 methods
24-hour withdrawal limitKYC 0	—	< $10,000
24-hour withdrawal limitKYC 1	$500,000	> $10,000
24-hour withdrawal limitKYC 2	$10,000,000	$1,000,000
24-hour withdrawal limitKYC 3	—	Upto 500 BTC
Trading fees
Spot maker fee	0.4%	0.2% (lower)
Spot taker fee	0.8%	0.35% (lower)
EU spot feesmaker/taker	0.4% / 0.8%	—
Futures maker fee	0.02%	0.02%
Futures taker fee	0.05%	0.05%
Options feesmaker/taker	—	0.03% / 0.03%
Coins and markets
Spot assetscrypto	679 (higher)	299
EU coins	679	—
Futures contractscrypto	199	514 (higher)
Options assets	—	4
Stocks	13	—
ETFs	5	—
FX pairs	3	—
Commodities	6	—
Leverage and margin
Max leverage	50×	125×
EU max leverage	10×	—
Spot margin	10×	—
Features
Spot	Yes	Yes
Futures	Yes	Yes
Options	No	Yes
Prediction Markets	No	Yes
P2P	No	Yes
Demo Trading	Yes	Yes
Copy Trading	No	Yes
Staking	Yes	Yes
Debit card	Yes	No
Security
Proof of reserves	YesAttestation ↗	YesAttestation ↗
Cold storage	Yes	Yes
Two-factor authentication	Yes	Yes
Withdrawal address whitelist	Yes	Yes
Anti-phishing passphrase	No	Yes
Reported hacks	YesSource ↗	YesSource ↗
Sign-up bonus
Bonus	—	100 USDT
Fee cashback	10%	—
Fee discount	—	10%
	Visit Kraken ↗Read review →	Visit OKX ↗Read review →

Availability in your country is checked live against each exchange's restricted-country list.

Who should choose Kraken

Kraken fits people who mainly buy and hold a broad range of coins, with 679 spot coins on offer. It holds a MiCA licence, which matters to EU customers who want a regulated venue. It also has a debit card and 13 tokenized stocks for those who want equity exposure alongside crypto. Its spot fees, 0.4% maker and 0.8% taker, run higher than OKX, so frequent spot traders pay more.

Who should choose OKX

OKX suits active traders and derivatives users. Spot fees are lower at 0.2% maker and 0.35% taker, and futures reach 125x leverage across 514 contracts on 485 coins. It adds options on 4 coins, copy trading, peer-to-peer trading and prediction markets. It does not hold a MiCA licence, and its spot coin count of 299 is smaller than Kraken’s.

Verdict

Pick Kraken if you want a MiCA-licensed venue, the widest spot selection or tokenized stocks. Pick OKX if you trade often and want lower spot fees, higher leverage and a deeper set of derivatives and extra tools.