Kraken vs Bullish: How these crypto exchanges compare

If you’re new to crypto, choosing the right exchange is a crucial step that will shape your digital asset journey. But with so many options now available, as well as important factors to consider such as fees, customer support, and trading tools, finding the platform that is best for you can be daunting.

Kraken is a long-established name dating back to 2011 and with millions of clients across the world. With a range of investment products suited to all experience levels, industry leading customer support and hundreds of assets available, Kraken stands out from the competition.

Bullish has a strong institutional focus and appeals to professional investors with its central limit order book and automated market making combination that delivers tight spreads and deep liquidity in supported markets.

Before you choose, it’s important to know the core principles, security practices and key capabilities of each exchange so you can make an informed decision.

This Kraken vs. Bullish comparison breaks down several common and crucial aspects to help you choose which platform is best suited to your goals.

Founded in 2011 in the United States, Kraken is among the earliest and most established names in the cryptocurrency industry. Launched less than two years after Bitcoin’s debut, the exchange has earned global recognition for its strong focus on security, operational transparency, and a high-quality user experience.

Today, Kraken serves more than 15 million clients in over 190 countries. Its offerings range from the flagship Kraken platform for individual investors, to powerful all-in-one trading platforms for advanced and institutional traders via the Kraken Pro platform and Kraken Desktop app.

Kraken’s institutional suite that covers spot, margin, futures markets, staking, and OTC trading for qualified clients. Kraken also invests heavily in education through Kraken Learn, supporting both new and experienced traders.

Headquartered in Wyoming, Kraken underscores is committed to accountability with routine Proof of Reserves, a practice it introduced to the industry back in 2014. It was also the first crypto exchange to be listed on the Bloomberg Terminal, helping bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital assets.

With regulatory licenses across key markets including the US, Canada, UK, EU and a history of assisting with cases such as Mt. Gox creditor claims, Kraken has built a reputation for stable, compliant operations that make it a trusted destination for those seeking a secure and enduring crypto exchange.

Founded in 2020 by Brendan Blumer, Bullish is a cryptocurrency exchange with a strong emphasis on regulatory compliance, transparency and institutional-grade market infrastructure. The platform caters to professional and institutional players over retail, offering its services in 50+ jurisdictions. As of 2025, it trades publicly on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:BLSH).

Bullish’s stack consists of spot, margin and derivatives trading, complete with modest levels of leverage. Its modern infrastructure is engineered to support high volume and API usage, making it particularly attractive to quantitative traders, market makers and institutions. Beyond its core offering, it also recently launched Bullish Social — a blockchain-based Web3 social platform.

Bullish’s well-rounded suite, high-throughput design and commitment to compliance separate it from some of its offshore competitors who operate with less regulatory clarity. As a professional venue, it also stands out against consumer-oriented platforms and legacy exchanges.

Bullish doesn’t target global accessibility, favoring jurisdictions with regulated markets over worldwide coverage. Additionally, it is much more restricted in both its asset support and its maximum leverage than retail-focused competitors.

These are not necessarily downsides for serious traders and institutional investors. However, consumers may be better served by competitors with familiar interfaces, better accessibility and broader asset listings.

As one of the longest standing cryptocurrency exchanges, Kraken’s reputation and consistency over the years have attracted a loyal and ever-growing clientbase. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Wyoming, it has thrived in bull and bear markets alike, delivering a secure, trustworthy and innovative investment platform.

Kraken’s deep-rooted commitment to security and transparency still shines through today. With their powerful infrastructure combined with compliance-ready products, clients can trust that their funds and data are safe.

While Bullish specializes in institutional-grade trading, Kraken provides the best of both worlds — offering user-friendly solutions for entry-level investors, as well as advanced tools for high value traders.

Kraken’s product ecosystem is designed to support a wide range of trading styles and experience levels. Users can trade on the go with its streamlined mobile app or tap into more advanced tools through Kraken Pro, which offers detailed charting, custom order types and real-time market data.

The platform supports spot trading for all users, with margin trading (up to 5x leverage) and futures contracts (up to 50x leverage) available in eligible regions. Institutional and high-net-worth clients can access additional services through Kraken’s OTC desk and Kraken Prime offering.

Beyond trading, Kraken provides crypto staking on over 21 assets, with rewards up to 17% APY depending on the coin and network conditions. Users can earn passively by staking assets like Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) directly through the platform.

Kraken also supports global digital payments through Krak, a feature enabling users to send crypto or cash without transaction fees.

In 2024, Kraken released its Ink Layer-2 network built on Optimism’s SuperChain, providing a seamless bridge between centralized exchanges and popular DeFi protocols.

For those seeking to deepen their financial knowledge, Kraken Learn offers educational resources covering everything from blockchain basics to advanced trading strategies.

Bullish focuses on providing a regulated trading environment, with products aimed at high networth individuals and institutional clients. Its core offering is spot and margin trading with up to 3× leverage for eligible users, as well as perpetual and dated futures contracts on major cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH and SOL with up to 7x leverage.

These derivatives are only offered in select jurisdictions to professional and institutional traders. Bullish also provides API access for algorithmic traders, alongside connectivity options designed to handle high-volume strategies.

Recently, Bullish has expanded its ecosystem through Bullish Social, a Web3 social platform where users can connect, share content, and interact with token-based features.

Kraken provides a wider, more comprehensive product set than Bullish. Beyond core spot and margin trading, it offers futures and margin trading, stock and ETF investing, zero-fee global payments, advanced staking and emerging services such as ICO access, AI-driven automation and access to proprietary funding.

On Kraken, clients have more markets, tools, and opportunities in a single platform. This breadth and pace of innovation are why many choose Kraken over Bullish.

Clients can access over 600 cryptocurrencies on Kraken, including majors such as Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP (XRP) as well as a variety of altcoins, from memecoins to liquid staking tokens.

There are also more than 11,000 commission-free ETFs and stocks available to trade directly in the Kraken app. And for clients in eligible locations, they can invest in xStocks, which are tokenized versions of these equities.
Kraken supports withdrawals and deposits in ten major fiat currencies, making it quick and convenient for global clients to fund their accounts.

Supported fiat currencies include:

• USD (US Dollar)

• CAD (Canadian Dollar)

• GBP (Pound Sterling)

• EUR (Euro)

• JPY (Japanese Yen)

• AUD (Australian Dollar)

• CHF (Swiss Franc)

• ARS (Argentine Peso)

• MXN (Mexican Peso)

• BRL (Brazilian Real)

There are also 15 stablecoins supported, including Tether (USDT), USDC and USDG.

Bullish’s offering is limited with a little over 50 cryptocurrencies available, six stablecoins and two different fiat currencies with USD and EUR.

Many of the supported assets on Bullish are restricted by the specific regions’ legal requirements.

Kraken appeals to users who want access to hundreds of cryptocurrencies and thousands of commission-free ETFs, all from within the same streamlined platform.

From leading tech stocks such as Tesla and Apple, to DeFi tokens and memecoins, Kraken not only supports the most popular assets across TradFi and crypto, but also provides powerful tools for trading these assets.

Kraken’s volume-based fee model is tiered and transparent to support both professional traders and casual investors.

With maker fees starting at 0.25% and taker fees at 0.40% there are also discounts available for high-volume individuals and institutions. With to a Kraken+ subscription, these fees can be eliminated entirely for eligible clients up to certain monthly volumes.

Most crypto and fiat deposits are free, with some exceptions depending on the transaction method and specific asset. Kraken also highlights transparency by displaying all fees before a transaction is confirmed, ensuring clients are well aware any fees upfront and avoid costly surprises.

Bullish offers competitive maker and taker fees, charging no maker fees on spot markets, while taker fees start at 0.01% but vary depending on trading volume, market and location. For margin and derivatives, fees are volume-based and differ by product, with details published in Bullish’s fee schedule.

Fiat deposits and withdrawals are only supported in USD and EUR, and associated banking fees depend on the method used. Users should check the latest information, as costs vary by region and payment type.

While Bullish might appeal to high-value traders and institutions thanks to their competitive pricing, Kraken’s equally competitive volume-based fees is a model friendly to beginners and experts alike.

Clients also benefit from Kraken’s broad fiat support — including USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, and more — making deposits and withdrawals more flexible compared to Bullish’s limited USD and EUR coverage.

Additionally, Kraken reinvests its fees into core business areas such as the exchange’s award winning customer support, industry leading security and an expanding product set.

Kraken is widely regarded as one of the most secure crypto platforms in the industry. Since inception, Kraken has never experienced a breach resulting in loss of client funds, a claim that few other exhcanges can make. Clients benefit from multi-layered account protection, including 2FA with passkeys, PGP email encryption, granular API key permissions with range boundaries, configurable account timeout, real-time monitoring for suspicious activity, withdrawal whitelisting and master key settings.

Kraken pioneered Proof of Reserves in 2014 and continues to lead the industry with regular, independently verifiable audits. This cryptographic procedure allows clients to personally review how their account balances are backed by real assets, at any time. Kraken also holds ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification, SOC 2 Type 2 audit compliance and operates a robust public bug bounty program.

Bullish emphasizes a regulatory-first approach, operating under the supervision of the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. The platform employs a layered security model, including two-factor authentication (2FA), encryption of data in transit and at rest, as well as strict withdrawal controls.

User assets are primarily held in cold storage, with only a small portion kept in hot wallets for liquidity purposes. Bullish also integrates real-time risk monitoring and institutional-grade custody standards.

While it has not experienced any major security breaches since launch in 2021, Bullish does not currently publish Proof of Reserves. Instead, it relies on regulatory compliance and third-party audits to verify solvency and asset protection.

Kraken is recognized as one of the most secure exchanges in the world. The majority of assets are held in offline cold storage, supported by regular Proof of Reserves audits and over a decade-long history without major breaches.

While Bullish emphasizes regulatory compliance and institutional safeguards, Kraken’s long track record of security and transparency provides greater reassurance to retail and institutional clients.

Kraken is known for its responsive and professional customer service, offering multiple support channels to meet different user needs. Clients can access 24/7 live chat with real human agents, submit requests via email, or (in select cases) speak directly with a support specialist by phone.

Kraken’s multilingual support team can assist users in over a dozen languages. This helps the company service its global customer base more effectively.

The exchange has also earned high marks in customer satisfaction and was recognized as the Winner of Best Use of AI in CX (Europe) at the Customer Centricity World Series. Its focus on clarity, empathy, and speed in resolving issues continues to distinguish Kraken’s client experience in a competitive space.

Bullish provides customer support through its Help Center, email and ticketing system. Clients can browse self-service articles or submit a request for assistance via the platform.

Unlike Kraken, Bullish does not currently offer live chat or phone support, and available language coverage is limited to English. Its support services are more limited in scope compared to leading competitors such as Kraken, who provide real-time assistance and multilingual support across a number of different communication channels.

Kraken appeals to users who want access to hundreds of cryptocurrencies and thousands of commission-free ETFs, all from within the same streamlined platform.

From leading tech stocks such as Tesla and Apple, to DeFi tokens and memecoins, Kraken not only supports the most popular assets across TradFi and crypto, but also provides powerful tools for trading these assets.

Kraken and Bullish both emphasize security and regulatory compliance, but they take different approaches. Bullish is a newer, institutionally focused exchange with tight spreads and low fees, but it has limited fiat support, a narrower range of assets and restricted customer service. Its design appeals to advanced traders who value regulated infrastructure and a streamlined experience.

By contrast, Kraken offers a more comprehensive platform for both individuals and institutions. With 500+ supported digital assets, advanced trading features, crypto staking, Proof of Reserves audits, and 24/7 multilingual support, Kraken is built for clients who want transparency, choice and long-term reliability.

Bullish may appeal to institutional participants seeking a regulated environment, but for most retail and professional traders, Kraken provides the broader, more versatile option.