With Kraken’s new Buy Crypto tool, you can now instantly purchase a range of cryptocurrencies using your debit or credit card.

If you have never made a fiat deposit, first time card purchases will result in a temporary 72 hour withdrawal hold. Please review our support article here, which explains how this will affect your Kraken account.  

Topics covered in this article:

• Requirements
• Credit / debit card fees and limits
• Important information
• Failed or declined transactions
• Where to find your crypto purchases
• Purchase instructions
• Explanation of 3D Secure (3DS1)
• Troubleshooting tips
• Supported countries

Requirements

• Your Kraken account must be verified to the Intermediate or Pro level, with residence in one of these supported countries.
• You must hold a valid Visa or Mastercard in the same legal name as your Kraken account.
• Your debit or credit card needs to support 3D Secure version 1 (3DS1).

Crebit / debit card fees and limits

Card purchase fees:

• For every crypto purchase made with your card, a fee of 3.75% + €0.25 is deducted from the total spending amount specified.
• The transaction fee is provided on the final confirmation page, and is visible before you complete the purchase.
• There are no hidden or additional fees, and the TOTAL value shown on the Confirmation page is what Kraken will charge to your card.
• Depending on your card issuers policy, they may charge additional fees for online card purchases. These fees are independent from Kraken’s fee, and are outside of our control.

Card and transaction limits:

• The minimum transaction amount is €10.
• There is a maximum spending amount of €4000 within a time-based 7 day rolling period.
• Purchase amounts count towards your daily and monthly funding limits.
• A maximum of 3 attempts to save your payment card is allowed within a 30 day rolling period. Deleting saved cards will not reset this limit so be mindful of this before removing any of your saved card details. Card information is securely stored and displayed according to PCI Compliance regulations. Each new purchase will require 3DS authentication.

Important information

• Purchases are currently only available in Euros. Once you select credit/debit card as the payment method, the fiat spending amount will automatically change to EUR and any purchases will be charged to your card in EUR as well. Please ensure that your card issuer is able to process any applicable currency conversions.
• Our Buy Crypto tool is specifically designed for easy buying, selling, and trading. Withdrawals to cards are not supported. Should you wish to withdraw crypto or fiat currencies, you will need to request it via the Funding section of your Kraken account. 
• The Global Settings Lock (GSL) prevents new cards from being added and previously saved card from being deleted. To make changes to your card payment method, please disable this setting by following these instructions on how to remove GSL from your account.
• If you have Trading 2FA, you will only be able to use the Buy Crypto feature with your existing account balances. To use your card for a purchase, please disable Trading 2FA. 

Failed or declined transactions

There are a number of reasons why a transaction could fail, with the most common being:

• There was a delay with approving the payment, resulting in the quoted price expiring.
• The browser or app was closed or refreshed before the crypto order could complete.
• Simultaneous buy orders on the app and website.
• Having your account open on multiple web pages with various buy orders.

If your card was charged but you did not immediately receive your crypto assets, the payment will be cancelled and funds returned to your card within 12 hours. The reversal may take a few days to be processed by your card issuer. 

Payments can also be declined by your card issuer, however you will need to contact them as our support team are not provided with specific reasons for the failure.

Where to find your crypto purchases

The cryptocurrency that you have purchased will be credited to your Kraken account balance. The transaction will be visible on your Ledger History in the format of:

• Deposit -> The total amount charged to your card.
• Spend -> The purchase value after the transaction fee has been deducted.
• Receive -> The final amount of cryptocurrency credited to your Kraken balance.

Explanation of 3D Secure (3DS1)

3DS1 is an additional security layer used to authorize online purchases by entering a password or one-time-PIN. This feature is supported by most banks or financial institutions and is typically referred to as "Verified by Visa" or “Mastercard SecureCode". 

Digital or Cloud banks may require the purchase to be authorized within the app.

If you are unsure if your card is 3DS1, please contact your card issuer to enquire if they support this security feature. 

We do not currently support 3DS2.

Troubleshooting tips

• Any difficulties with completing your purchase could be related to your web browser or app. Please try our tips on how to correct web browser issues or follow these steps to clear the cache and storage of your Kraken app.