BlockFi vs Kraken

Kraken and BlockFi are two of the better known and more popular cryptocurrency platforms today. Founded in 2011, Kraken is a California-based cryptocurrency exchange owned by Payward Inc. BlockFi is a privately owned crypto banking platform launched in 2017. They are headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey with offices in New York, Poland, Argentina and Singapore. This Kraken and BlockFi review will compare these two platforms to determine which best fits your needs.

What is BlockFi?

BlockFi is a crypto banking platform that offers multiple services to users. The platform supports over 40 cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. Available services include a crypto exchange, interest earning crypto accounts and crypto-backed loans. They also offer a credit card that rewards card holders whenever it is used.

What is Kraken?

Kraken is a crypto exchange that supports over 200 digital coins, although not every cryptocurrency will be available in every country. They also offer trading in cryptocurrency futures and margin trading of select cryptocurrencies as well as an over-the-counter (OTC) desk for more personalized service to high net-worth investors and institutions. Investors can also stake a number of different cryptocurrencies to earn interest on their digital asset.

Features

BlockFi Features

• Crypto Exchange: There are over 40 different cryptocurrencies that users can buy, sell and trade on the BlockFi crypto exchange but clients based in the United States are limited to trading only 15 digital coins. Only 12 of the supported cryptocurrencies can be funded from a personal wallet or withdrawn to a personal wallet.
• Crypto-backed Loans: BlockFi offers crypto-backed loans to users that allow clients to borrow up to 50% of the value of their crypto collateral. Cryptocurrencies accepted as collateral are BTC, ETH, LTC and PAXG. The interest rates vary depending on the loan to value (LTV) ratio.
• 50% LTV: 9.75%
• 35% LTV: 7.9%
• 20% LTV: 4.5%

The platforms crypto lending rates are competitive and slightly lower than some of their competitors as you can see in a CoinLoan review

• Interest Earning Account: BlockFi enables investors to earn interest on 48 different cryptocurrencies, far more than some of their competitors as you can see in a MyConstant review. Interest rates vary depending on the cryptocurrency and range from 0.10% up to 15%. No minimum or maximum is set.
• BlockFi Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card: BlockFi’s credit card has no annual fees and gives users 1.5% in Bitcoin rewards every time they use the card.

Kraken Features

• Crypto Exchange: Kraken supports crypto trading for over 200 digital coins although not every cryptocurrency is available in every country. They also offer some advanced trading features such as margin trading that allows users to trade with additional leverage and cryptocurrency futures trading where users can buy or sell cryptocurrency at a specific price at a future date and time.
• OTC Trading: The Kraken OTC desk is for those investors who want to complete trades that are large enough to disrupt markets if placed on the exchanges.
• Staking: Kraken clients can stake 17 different digital coins and earn cryptocurrency on their idle digital assets. The amount earned depends on the cryptocurrency staked, and ranges from 1% up to 20% in yearly rewards

Currencies

There are a total of 48 different cryptocurrencies supported on BlockFi’s platform. Here are the digital coins supported by BlockFi.

The U.S. dollar is the only fiat currency accepted at BlockFi

Kraken supports over 200 cryptocurrencies on their platform. Supported crypto includes:

The fiat currencies accepted at Kraken are USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, CAD, CHF, and JPY.

Security

BlockFi uses two-factor authentication (2FA) as a protection measure for users. In addition, there is a feature they refer to as allowlisting, also known as whitelisting, that enable users to limit withdrawals to only known addresses that they have added to their allowlist. To protect crypto funds BlockFi uses Gemini as a custodian for storing cryptocurrency. Gemini store 95% of BlockFi’s crypto fund offline and the crypto stored online is insured.

Kraken has a number of security measures in place. 95% of their crypto funds are stored offline and their servers are under 24/7 surveillance. They use 2FA to help secure user’s accounts, require email confirmations for withdrawals and encrypt all sensitive data among other security features.

Fees

BlockFi doesn’t charge any transaction fees for trades. There is a 2% origination fee for crypto backed loans. Users can make 1 cryptocurrency withdrawal and 1 stablecoin withdrawal for free every month after which a fee is charged. Withdrawal fees at BlockFi are shown in the following table.

Basic trading fees at Kraken are a 0.9% fee for stable coins and a 1.5% for other cryptocurrencies. In addition, there is a 3.75% fee + $0.25 fee for funding a purchase with a payment card or digital wallet and a 0.5% fee for funding accounts via online banking/ACH.

Trading on Kraken Pro has significantly lower fees. Depending on trade volume over 30 days maker fees range from 0.16% to 0.02% and taker fees vary from 0.26% to 0.10%. Kraken withdrawal fees vary depending on the cryptocurrency.

Ease of Use

The Kraken and BlockFi platforms are both easy to use for beginners and experienced traders alike. It is easy to sign up to both, and both will require users to complete a verification process to trade. Kraken has different verification levels and completing each opens up more features.

Mobile App

BlockFi’s app lets users trade crypto, obtain crypto backed loans, manage interest earning accounts and manage the BlockFi credit card. It is available for Android and iOS devices and can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Android Google Play Store.

Kraken has 2 mobile apps, the Kraken app and the Kraken Pro app. The Kraken app is easy to use for beginners and enables the buying, selling and converting of cryptocurrencies using their Instant Buy system. Users can deposit and withdraw with the app. More features are available on the Kraken Pro app and it allows margin trading and advanced order types as well as having multiple charting and order book display options. It is available for iOS and Android devices and can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Android Google Play Store.

Access

BlockFi is available in the majority of U.S. states as well as world-wide with the exception of countries sanctioned by the U.S., the U.K. or EU. However, new US users aren’t able to open interest earning accounts.

Kraken is available worldwide including the U.S. excepting the states of New York and Washington.

Wallets

The wallet BlockFi offers users for storing cryptocurrencies is non-interest-earning. It is a custodial wallet but can be used to buy sell and trade cryptocurrencies on the site. Users can lock the wallet with 2FA authentication.

Kraken provides its users a wallet to store crypto between purchases but doesn’t provide a personal wallet service or encourage clients to leave their assets on the platform.

BlockFi vs Kraken Credit Card

BlockFi’s credit card has no annual fees and users receive 1.5% in Bitcoin rewards whenever they make a purchase with the card.

Kraken doesn’t offer a credit card at this time.

BlockFi Pros & Cons

BlockFi Pros

• Can earn interest on 48 cryptocurrencies
• Obtain fast crypto-backed loans with no credit check
• 95% of user’s crypto assets are stored offline

BlockFi Cons

• Users receive 1 free stablecoin withdrawal and 1 free cryptocurrency withdrawal per month after which withdrawal fees apply

Kraken Pros & Cons

Kraken Pros

• Large selection of cryptocurrencies
• Advanced trading features
• Can stake 17 different cryptocurrencies

Kraken Cons

• Fees are higher if not using Kraken Pro

Conclusion

Kraken and BlockFi are both solid crypto platforms. For buying, selling and trading cryptocurrencies both are a good choice but Kraken offers more trading features and has a better selection of cryptocurrencies. For crypto loans and interest earning accounts BlockFi is the obvious choice.