Introducing the Kraken Dark Pool

Dark Pool is not currently available, this article will be updated once this changes.

The Dark Pool is a separate order book not visible to the rest of the market. Each trader only knows their own orders. This allows traders to anonymously place large buy or sell orders without revealing their interest to other traders.

Why Have It?

Typically large orders, when seen by other traders will cause the market to move unfavorably, making it more difficult to fill the order at the desired price. This unfavorable price movement may be avoided with a Dark Pool order.

The advantages of using Dark Pool orders are reduced market impact and better price for large trades.

How Does It Work?

Dark Pool orders can only be matched with other Dark Pool orders.

Because the Dark Pool is an invisible order book, as a risk precaution we removed market orders (since market orders should only be placed when you can see the order book). Only limit orders are allowed.

Limit orders on the Dark Pool execute when they "cross" each other. That is why Dark Pool minimums are large — so traders cannot easily find where the other side of the book is.

Margin trading is NOT possible on the Dark Pool. The large minimums have to be met using your own balances.

In the Dark Pool you will not know if you will be maker or taker, so we removed the fee distinction between the two. Everyone follows the same fee structure.

Which Pairs Can Be Traded From The Dark Pool?

The Dark Pool is currently only available for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) currency pairs.

Ethereum pairs:

ETH/CAD
ETH/EUR
ETH/GBP
ETH/JPY
ETH/USD

Bitcoin pairs:

BTC/CAD
BTC/EUR
BTC/GBP
BTC/JPY
BTC/USD

Bitcoin ↔ Ethereum:

ETH/BTC

What Are The Requirements?

Only available to clients verified to the Pro level (Personal or Business).
The minimum order size for BTC pairs is equivalent to roughly 100k USD.
The minimum order size for ETH pairs is equivalent to roughly 50k USD.
Only limit orders are supported.

What Are The Fees?

Trading fees for Dark Pool orders range from 0.20% to 0.36%, which is an extra 0.20% compared to normal limit order rates (0% to 0.16%). Rates depend on your 30-day trading volume (in USD equivalent).

Executed Dark Pool orders contribute towards your 30-day trade volume. So the more you trade on Dark Pool (or in Kraken in general), the lower your fees will be.

You can see fee details on our Fee Schedule page by clicking the "Dark Pool" tab. Dark Pool trading pairs are designated by a “.d” extension (e.g. 'BTCUSD.d').

How Are Dark Pool Orders Managed?

Dark Pool orders can be found in the same places as regular orders. Remember that Dark Pool trading pairs are designated by a “.d” extension (e.g. 'BTCUSD.d').

You can view new, open, and closed Dark Pool orders on the Trade > Orders page.
You can view the details of executions on the Trade > Trades page.
Dark Pool orders would NOT be visible on the positions page as margin trading is not possible with Dark Pool.