Margin trading for clients in the United Kingdom

Last updated: Apr 2, 2025

Margin trading with fiat and fiat-backed stablecoins is restricted for certain Kraken clients (non-corporates) who reside in the United Kingdom (UK). These restrictions do not affect margin trading with other cryptoassets.

Margin trading with fiat and fiat-backed stablecoins is only available to UK clients who have declared that they qualify as high net worth borrowers or use margin wholly or predominantly for the purposes of a business. UK clients who meet these requirements are able to declare their status via the Kraken Pro web or mobile app.

To declare yourself as a high net worth borrower for margin trading:

  1. 1

    Ensure your Kraken account is verified to the Intermediate or Pro level.

    All new UK Intermediate or Pro clients, and all existing UK Intermediate or Pro clients, who have not previously traded margin will be asked to declare their status the first time they attempt to access margin extensions in fiat or fiat-backed stablecoins.
  2. 2

    To submit your declaration, please sign in to your account via Kraken Pro (web or app).

  3. 3

    If you declare as a high net worth borrower, you will be required to provide an additional accountant declaration form. Please download and fill out the form below:

  4. 4

    If step 3 applies to you, once you have completed the additional form, upload your documents via our webform here.

From July 15, 2024, UK clients who have not declared their status will not be able to open positions using margin extensions in fiat and fiat-backed stablecoins, and will only be able to reduce or close their existing positions.

From July 31, 2024, UK clients that have not declared their status will have their existing positions opened with margin extensions in fiat and fiat-backed stablecoins closed by Kraken.

Clients may still declare their status after the dates outlined above. To do so, sign in to your account via Kraken Pro.

For UK clients (non-corporates) to be eligible for margin trading with fiat and fiat-backed stablecoins on Kraken, they will need to declare that they:

  1. 1

    Are a high net worth borrower with net income in the previous financial year over £150k, or having net assets over £500k in that year (an accountant will need to provide a statement of high net worth in support of your declaration); or

  2. 2

    Use margin wholly or predominantly for the purposes of a business* carried on by them.

*Note: If you have a personal Kraken account, you can still choose this option.

Type Order/Type Pairs

Pair examples

Long

Short

Fiat/Stablecoins vs. Fiat/Stablecoin

USD/USDT, USDT/GBP

Restrictions apply

Restrictions apply

Crypto vs. Fiat/Stablecoin

BTC/USD

Restrictions apply

Restrictions do not apply

Crypto vs. Crypto

BTC/ETH

Restrictions do not apply

Restrictions do not apply

Please reach out to our Support team if you have any further questions!

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