If you've received a notification that your account has been restricted due to a chargeback, it means Kraken has received a chargeback notice for one or more of your recent transactions. Until the outstanding balance is fully resolved, certain account features may be restricted.
Instructions for settling the balance were sent to your registered email address. Please check your inbox (including your spam or junk folder) for an email from Kraken with the specific amount owed and next steps.
When a chargeback occurs, it means that either you disputed a deposit into your Kraken account, or your bank or card issuer has reversed a deposit that was previously credited. Depending on the funding method, this could mean there was an error in the payment details, or there were insufficient funds in your bank account at the time it was debited. Because Kraken had already made the purchased assets available to you at the time of the original deposit, the returned funds are owed back to us. We know this can be frustrating, and we want to make it as straightforward as possible for you to resolve the balance and get your account back to full functionality. If you believe the chargeback was made in error, we'd recommend reaching out to your bank or card issuer directly to resolve it.
You have several options to repay the amount owed:
Deposit funds via bank wire
You can send a bank wire to cover the outstanding balance. The bank account used to send the wire must be registered under the same legal name as your Kraken account. Third-party deposits are not accepted.
If you are depositing USD: the wire beneficiary must be listed as Payward Interactive Inc. Do not list your own name as the beneficiary, as this will cause the bank to reject the wire and may result in processing delays.
For deposit instructions specific to your region, currency, and payment method, visit:
Transfer funds from another Kraken balance
If you have funds in another Kraken product (such as your Krak balance), you may be able to transfer those funds to your Kraken account to cover the amount owed. This is often the quickest way to settle the balance if you already have funds available within Kraken.
Deposit crypto from an external wallet or exchange
You can transfer cryptocurrency from an external wallet or another exchange into your Kraken account and convert it to fiat currency to cover the balance owed.
Sell existing crypto holdings
If you already hold cryptocurrency in your Kraken account, you can trade those assets into fiat currency to cover the outstanding amount.
While the outstanding balance remains unpaid, the following restrictions apply to your account:
Withdrawals are suspended: you cannot withdraw fiat currency or cryptocurrency until the balance is settled
Purchases are suspended: you are unable to buy cryptocurrency or equities until the balance is settled
Trading and deposits remain available: you can still trade crypto assets and deposit funds into your account. Some instant funding methods may be temporarily restricted.
We're not able to lift these restrictions until the outstanding balance has been fully repaid, but once it is, we'll work to restore your account as quickly as possible.
If the outstanding balance is not repaid within 7 days of the chargeback notice, Kraken may attempt to recover the funds directly from your account balance. This may include debiting your cash balance or liquidating available cryptocurrency assets.
If you've already made a deposit to cover the outstanding balance and your account still has restrictions, please contact our support team. A specialist will review your account and assist with reinstating account access as quickly as possible.
If you have questions or need guidance on repayment, our support team is available to help. The fastest way to reach our support team is via in-app chat support, but you can also visit here to send us an email.
For more information on account restrictions, see also: Why is my account restricted?