What is Step-up 2FA?

Step-up 2FA is your Sign-in 2FA or Master Key, used to confirm sensitive changes. When you add, edit or remove a two-factor authentication (2FA) method on your account, Kraken may ask you to confirm it’s you with either one.

How it works

When you request a change to your 2FA settings, you may be asked to confirm with:

• Sign-in 2FA. The same 2FA you use to sign in. We recommend a Passkey. Only use an authenticator app if Passkeys aren’t available.

• Master Key. If you’ve set up a Master Key, you can use it instead.

If you’re asked, the change only goes through once you’ve confirmed correctly.

Get the most from Step-up 2FA

• Enable multiple 2FA methods so you always have access to one, including when Step-up 2FA is required. See How to enable multiple two-factor authentication.

• Use a Passkey as your Master Key, and keep it on a different device from your Sign-in 2FA so losing or compromising one device doesn’t expose both. For example, if your Sign-in 2FA Passkey is on your phone, create your Master Key Passkey on a Hardware Security Key.

• Don’t keep both in the same authenticator app. See Risks of using an authenticator app.

Before you start

You need Sign-in 2FA enabled on your account. If you haven’t set it up yet, we strongly encourage you to. See How does two-factor authentication (2FA) for sign-in work?.

Global Settings Lock (GSL)

If you have the Global Settings Lock (GSL) enabled, you can’t change your security settings, so you won’t see Step-up 2FA.