Is Kraken safe? Licences, account freezes and incidents
Is Kraken safe?
Kraken has 2 licences found in the ESMA MiCA register, issued by the CBI to Payward Europe Solutions Limited and Payward Global Solutions Limited. Its terms let it freeze, suspend or close an account, without prior notice. Its terms restrict unlawful or unlicensed gambling only. No primary-source incident is recorded, which is not proof of none.
Documents last checked Reviewed by CryptoGuardz Register Desk, editorial desk
Disclosure: CryptoGuardz has no commercial relationship with Kraken and earns nothing if you open an account there. Every statement below is read from a document Kraken publishes or from a public register, and each carries the date it was read. Corrections go to the corrections page.
Kraken review: the documents
This is a review of the documents Kraken publishes and of the registers that should list it, not a test of the platform: no account was funded and no withdrawal was run. The binding terms name Payward Trading Ltd as the company you contract with, in British Virgin Islands. The record quotes 7 clauses across 7 topics, read 2026-09-28, from 6 sources. Kraken has 2 licences found in the ESMA MiCA register, issued by the CBI to Payward Europe Solutions Limited and Payward Global Solutions Limited, not to Payward Trading Ltd, the company in the terms read. A proof of reserves is published, and the public page names no signer. The terms carry a clause on what happens to customer assets if the company fails, quoted below. Its terms restrict unlawful or unlicensed gambling only. 3 points could not be verified and are listed below.
Is my crypto safe on Kraken?
Kraken is a custodial exchange: coins on the account are held by the exchange, not by a key you control. What protects them is what the binding terms say about holding customer assets and about the company failing. One clause on holding customer assets is quoted below.
In order to more securely and effectively custody Digital Assets, we may use shared blockchain addresses, that we control, to hold Digital Assets on your behalf and to hold on our behalf. We maintain separate ledgers for your account and our accounts.kraken.com
Insolvency and bankruptcy language in the terms, verbatim:
None of the Digital Assets in your account or any other customer account are our property, are loaned to us, or are subject to the claims of our creditors, and we do not represent or treat Digital Assets in your account, or in any other customer’s account, as our property. However, a court may disagree with our treatment of your Digital Assets and subject them to claims of our creditors.kraken.com
Can Kraken freeze my account?
Yes, by its terms. The clause is quoted as written, followed by the clause on suspending withdrawals. Grounds named in the text: its own discretion, with no reason required.
We can, at any time and without liability or prior notice to you: modify or discontinue our services or Platforms (or any parts of them), suspend, restrict, or terminate your access to our services or Platforms, suspend, restrict, or delete your account, any information related to your account, or any content you post to the services or Platforms, or reject any Deposit, Withdrawal, Trade, or other transaction or use of the service.kraken.com
We may, in our discretion, determine that it is necessary or appropriate to suspend your ability to make Withdrawals or Redemptions. We reserve the right to suspend your ability to make Withdrawals or Redemptions altogether for an indeterminate amount of time to ensure, as determined in our sole discretion, compliance with these terms or any legal, regulatory, or administrative obligation or guidance.kraken.com
Sending funds to a casino is a named trigger in a clause that restricts unlawful gambling:
use Our Content to engage in, pay for, or support any illegal, fraudulent, deceptive, or manipulative conduct, including illegal gambling activities, money-laundering, or terrorist activities,kraken.com
Has Kraken been hacked or fined?
No hack, fine or regulator action was found for Kraken from primary sources in this collection: no company disclosure, no court filing and no regulator notice. That is not proof that none happened. It is the absence of a search result, and a press report is not recorded here until a primary source confirms it.
Kraken support and scams
The official domain in the record is kraken.com. Type it yourself rather than following a link from an ad, a search result or a message, and reach support only from inside the account you signed in to there.
Real support never asks for a seed phrase or for remote access to your device. An exchange account is opened with a login, not a recovery phrase, so a request for one is a request for a wallet you hold elsewhere. A request to install a screen-sharing or remote-desktop app hands the caller your signed-in session. Either one ends the conversation.
If money has already gone, the next message offering to get it back is the commonest second loss. The FBI, the FTC, the CFTC and the UK FCA have each published warnings about it, quoted on crypto scam recovery: what is real.
What we could not verify
The gaps in this record, as the record states them. A point listed here was looked for and not confirmed; it is neither a finding for Kraken nor against it.
- The name of the accountant that performs the proof of reserves review. It is shown only to logged-in clients.
- The as-of date of the most recent proof of reserves review.
- The company number of Payward Trading Ltd. The terms give an address in Road Town, Tortola, and no number.