Where is Kraken licensed or regulated?
We welcome clients from all over the world, with a few specific exceptions due to international and local regulations. Depending on your verified residency, you may have certain restrictions on your account, including with respect to the crypto assets you can buy, sell and deposit. Refer to our Terms of Service for complete information on our eligibility criteria. Some account features are only available at certain verification levels.
Our funding providers may, at their own discretion, deny funding to certain geographical locations.
Some regions are not yet able to use debit or credit cards for funding. Please refer to our FAQ on debit and credit cards for the full list of accepted regions.
As jurisdictions continue to develop cryptocurrency regulatory frameworks for local operations, we engage with regulators globally in order to serve clients in a compliant manner. We currently hold the following registrations, licenses, authorizations and approvals:
Europe
In Cyprus, Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Limited is regulated by CYSEC as an investment firm with licence number 342/17, authorised to offer certain investment and ancillary services.
In Ireland, Kraken has the following licenses, which it has passported to all EEA countries. All EEA customers will contract with these entities if they avail of the services provided:
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Payward Ireland Limited, trading as “Kraken”, is licensed as an E-Money Institution (EMI) with the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) (Registration no. C453020) to offer the execution of credit transfer services.
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Payward Europe Solutions Limited, trading as “Kraken”, is licensed as a Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) with the CBI (Registration No. C468360) to provide:
- The custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients
- The exchange of crypto-assets for funds or other crypto-assets
- The execution of orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients
- The reception and transmission of orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients
- Providing placing of crypto-assets services
- Providing transfer services for crypto-assets on behalf of clients
- Providing portfolio management on crypto-asset
In Ireland, Payward Global Solutions Limited, trading as “Kraken”, is licensed as a CASP with the CBI (Registration No C559106), to operate a trading platform for crypto-assets.
EEA Clients are subject to the following restrictions:
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Cannot deposit or trade DAI, EURT, POL, PYUSD, RLUSD, TREMP, TUSD, USDT, UST, and XMR
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USDG Rewards is not available to clients residing in Belgium.
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Clients residing in the EEA cannot use Babylon Bitcoin Staking.
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Opt-in Rewards (OIR) in EEA (excluding Germany) is only available for Bitcoin. For Germany, OIR is available for assets listed here.
* EEA - Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden
In the United Kingdom, Kraken operates locally as a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
Registered Cryptoasset Firm ('Payward Ltd., FRN 928768) under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.
Kraken is also authorised by the FCA as an Electronic Money Institution ('Payward Services Limited', FRN 1010381) under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011.
To offer certain crypto asset-related services to eligible clients, Kraken also maintains a FCA Authorised Investment Firm (FRN 757895) through its subsidiary 'Crypto Facilities Ltd..
Clients residing in the UK are subject to the following restrictions:
Business account verification
We've temporarily paused the approval of new UK corporate accounts while we enhance our onboarding
Opt-in reward restrictions
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Clients residing in the United Kingdom cannot use Opt-in Rewards.
Krak restrictions
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Clients residing in the UK cannot engage in fiat transfers.
Cryptocurrency restrictions
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Cannot deposit or trade DAI, OMNI, TREMP, and XMR
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Cannot buy or sell HNT.
Derivatives trading restrictions
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Retail clients living in the United Kingdom cannot trade derivatives.
Reef restrictions
Clients located in the UK cannot participate in the Kraken Reef program.
North America
To serve clients in Canada, Kraken operates as a registered Restricted Dealer, registered with the Ontario Securities Commission and the securities regulators in each of the provinces and territories of Canada. Kraken also maintains registration as a Money Services Business with FINTRAC (‘Payward Canada, Inc.’, MSB Registration No. M19343731). For a complete overview of all regulatory updates and what they mean for Canadian clients, please visit: Canada regulatory updates.
Clients residing in Canada are subject to the following restrictions:
Account verification
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Clients in Canada will need to verify to the Intermediate level.
Earn restrictions
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Clients without active allocations in Flexible Staking or Auto Earn are no longer eligible to access these products.
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Cannot use Opt-in Rewards.
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Cannot stake GRT or FLR.
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Cannot use ETH Restaking.
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USDG Rewards is not available to clients residing in Canada.
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Clients residing in Canada cannot use Babylon Bitcoin Staking
Cryptocurrency restrictions
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Cannot deposit, hold or trade ACA, AGLD, ALICE, ALCH, ANLOG, ARC, ATLAS, AVAAI, BDXN, BODEN, CLOUD, cmETH, COOKIE, CSM, C98, DAI, DBR, DMC, DOLO, DUCK, ENA, EUROP, EURR, EURQ, EURT, FHE, FLY, GENS, GMX, GRASS, HDX, HMSTR, ICNT, INTR, K, KBTC, KERNEL, KIN, KMNO, KOBAN, L3, LAYER, LMWR, LSETH, MC, mETH, NIL, NMR, NODL, NYM, OMNI, ORDER, OTP, OXY, PAXG, PARA, PICA, PORTAL, PRCL, PSTAKE, PYUSD, REQ, REZ, ROOK, RLUSD, SDN, SOGNI, SPICE, STEP, SWARMS, SWELL, TBTC, TEER, TNSR, TREMP, TUSD, USDD, USDQ, USDR, USDS, USDT, UST, VVV, YGG, XRT, USDG, W, WAL, WAXL, WBTC, WEN, or ZEX.
Krak restrictions
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USDG is not available to clients residing in Canada.
Margin trading restrictions
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Clients residing in Canada cannot trade using margin.
Derivatives trading restrictions
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Clients residing in Canada cannot trade derivatives.
XStocks Limitations:
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xStocks are not available in Canada.
To serve clients in the United States (US), Kraken maintains a registration as a Money Services Business with FinCEN (‘Payward Interactive, Inc.’, MSB Registration No. 31000270997766). To offer digital asset custody services to eligible clients, Kraken also maintains through its subsidiary ‘Kraken Financial’ a Wyoming-chartered Special Purpose Depository Institution. Kraken offers equities trading in the US through its subsidiary Kraken Securities LLC, a broker-dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (www.finra.org) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (www.sipc.org).
Clients residing in the US are subject to the following restrictions:
Geographic restrictions
At this time, Kraken (including Kraken Securities LLC) does not offer service to residents of:
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Maine (ME)
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New York (NY)
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Clients residing in California, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin cannot use Babylon Bitcoin Staking
If you move outside of these states, you can use your new address for regular verification. Be sure to provide a Proof of Residence document so we can legally provide our services to you.
Staking restrictions
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Staking services are not available in these US states: California, Maryland, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.
Krak restrictions
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Clients residing in the US cannot engage in fiat transfers.
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Crypto transfers are not available in the following states: IN, ME, NY.
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Cash transfers are not available in the following states: CO, IN, LA, ME, MA, NY, UT.
State-by-state funding restrictions
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Residents of Texas and New Hampshire cannot deposit or hold EUR, nor trade EUR pairs. Residents of Massachusetts cannot deposit or withdraw funds via banks outside the US.
State-by-state custody restrictions
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Services provided by Kraken Financial are only available to eligible clients in certain states. More information on the services provided by Kraken Financial can be found here.
Cryptocurrency restrictions
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The following assets are restricted for US clients: ACA, AGLD, ALCH, ALICE, ANLOG, ARC, ATLAS, AUDIO, AVAAI, BDXN, cmETH, COOKIE, C98, CLOUD, CSM, DBR, DMC, DOLO, DUCK, ESX, FHE, FLY, GRASS, HDX, HMSTR, ICNT, INTR, K, KERNEL, KIN, KMNO, KOBAN, L3, LAYER, LMWR, MC, mETH, MV, NIL, NMR, NODL, NYM, OMNI, ORDER, OXY, PARA, PERP, PORTAL, PRCL, PSTAKE, REQ, REZ, ROOK, SDN, SOGNI, SPICE, STEP, SWARMS, SWELL, TEER, TERM, VVV, WAL, WEN, WOO, XRT, YGG, ZEX.
Derivatives trading
Brokerage services are provided by NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC doing business as Kraken Derivatives US, a Futures Commission Merchant registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and a member of the National Futures Association (NFA ID #0309379).
Margin trading requirements
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Margin trading is only available to US clients that meet specific requirements.
Cash-to-cash trading restriction
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US clients cannot trade cash-to-cash pairs.
Earn restrictions
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US clients cannot use Opt-In Rewards.
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Rewards feature on Kraken is only available to select US states.
xStocks limitations:
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xStocks are not available in United States.
Rest of World (ROW)
In Australia, Kraken maintains local operations as a registered Digital Currency Exchange (DCE) with AUSTRAC (Bit Trade Pty Ltd, ACN 163 237 634). Kraken Derivatives are offered via Beaufort Fiduciaries Pty Ltd (ACN 162 139 871, AFSL 545124), a Kraken group company.
Derivatives trading restrictions:
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Australian wholesale clients are able to access Kraken Derivatives via its Australian financial services licensed broker, Beaufort Fiduciaries Pty Ltd (ACN 162 139 871 AFSL no 545124)
Krak restrictions:
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Krak is not available to clients residing in Australia.
Earn restrictions:
Cryptocurrency restrictions:
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Cannot deposit, hold or trade DASH, XMR, and ZEC.
Margin trading restrictions
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Retail clients who reside in Australia cannot access fiat extensions when trading with margin.
In Bermuda, Payward Digital Solutions Ltd (PDSL) holds a Class F Digital Asset Business license and is overseen by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) (registration number 202403268). PDSL serves as a broker for certain derivatives clients as well as a market venue for certain futures contracts (not available to customers in the EU).
Clients residing in Bermuda cannot use Babylon Bitcoin Staking.
Kraken is not licensed or regulated in Singapore.
Prohibited Regions
We do not serve clients, or permit cash and crypto deposits, from the following regions:
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Afghanistan
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Belarus
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Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions of Ukraine
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Cuba
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Democratic Republic of the Congo
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Iran
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Iraq
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Japan
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Libya
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North Korea
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Russia
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Sudan
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South Sudan
Europe
North America
Rest of World (ROW)
Prohibited Regions