Does Kraken have a
referral program? Yes.
Kraken runs an official refer-a-friend program: both the referrer and the new user earn a reward, advertised at up to $20 each. Here’s how the mechanism works, what each side actually gets, and who qualifies.
Last verified: · against Kraken’s official docs
Yes — Kraken runs an official referral program: both the person referring and the new user earn a reward. Kraken’s US referrals page advertises up to $20 for each side, and its help center documents a base bonus of $20 per qualifying signup, with the exact figure for your region confirmed inside the Kraken app. The program is real, documented in Kraken’s own terms, and open to residents of 14 countries. We last verified the details against Kraken’s official docs on July 17, 2026.
How Kraken’s referral program works
The mechanism is simple. Every eligible Kraken user gets a personal invite link (an invite.kraken.com URL) and a typeable referral code — for example, ours is rfqr7jtt. A new user either opens the link, which attaches the referral automatically, or types the code into the referral field on Kraken’s signup form. Both routes are equivalent and unlock the same reward; the only rule is that the referral must be attached at signup — it can’t be added to an existing account afterwards.
Once the new account exists, a checklist starts: identity verification, a fiat deposit by bank transfer, and one qualifying trade — all inside the countdown shown in the app (Kraken’s referrals page says 15 days, its help center 30). When the checklist completes, Kraken pays both sides within 14 days. The Kraken app shows a tracker so each party can see which requirements are done.
Two structural details are worth understanding before you rely on the program. First, the amounts are promotional: Kraken advertises up to $20 as the headline, documents $20 as the base bonus, and runs regional variants of the offer — we’ve observed promotional levels roughly between $30 and $200 depending on the market. The number that binds is the one displayed inside the app at signup. Second, the program lives in the standard Kraken app rather than Kraken Pro: both apps share one account, but the referral tracker and the gift section are found in the regular app, which occasionally confuses Pro-first users into thinking the program doesn’t exist.
What the person referring earns
The referrer earns a reward for every qualifying signup — advertised at up to $20 USDG per friend on the referrals page — capped at up to $200 USDG in total payouts. Kraken pays referral bonuses on ten, fifteen, or twenty referrals depending on the offer available to you; check the referral section of your own app for the figures that apply to your account. Two rules worth knowing: the referrer and the friend generally must live in the same country (cross-border referrals are allowed within the eligible EEA), and Kraken prohibits promoting invite links through paid advertising — organic sharing only.
In practice that makes the referrer side a word-of-mouth program rather than an income stream: share the code with friends, family, or an audience you already have, and each qualifying signup credits your account after the friend completes their checklist. The referrer’s reward doesn’t reduce what the new user receives — both bonuses are paid by Kraken independently — so there’s no awkwardness in using a code you found online rather than one from someone you know.
What the new user gets
The new user gets one of two rewards, depending on the invite. Via the Kraken app invite: the welcome bonus — up to $20 USDG advertised (or $20 in your local currency per the help center), with the exact amount shown in-app. Via our Kraken Pro cashback invite: 20% cashback on trading fees, displayed on Kraken’s own signup page. To qualify, all of the following must happen before the in-app countdown runs out: a brand-new account created with the code or link, completed identity verification, a fiat deposit by bank transfer (card deposits don’t count), and one qualifying trade into a non-stablecoin asset at the amount the app displays. The bonus then arrives within 14 days. The full terms, including what disqualifies a bonus, are on our bonus breakdown page.
Who’s eligible
The program is region-limited. It’s currently available to residents of:
* In the United States, the program excludes residents of Maine and New York. Referrer and friend generally must reside in the same country; within the eligible EEA countries, cross-border referrals are allowed.
If your country isn’t on the list, the signup form will still accept you as a customer — Kraken operates far more widely than its referral program — but the code won’t attach a bonus, and no third-party workaround changes that. Kraken adjusts this list over time, so it’s worth re-checking if your country is missing today.
How it compares to other exchanges’ programs
Most major exchanges run some form of referral scheme, but they differ in transparency and structure. Some pay the referrer a percentage of the friend’s trading fees indefinitely; others, like Kraken, pay a one-time bonus to both sides once the new user completes defined requirements. Kraken’s program stands out for documenting its base bonus ($20) in its own help center and confirming the exact reward in-app before you commit — many competitors only show their referral terms after you generate an invite, and the amounts shift with promotions. If you’re weighing Kraken against the other big US exchange specifically, our Kraken vs Coinbase comparison covers that head to head.
The trade-off cuts both ways, to be fair. A fee-share referral program can eventually pay a referrer more than Kraken’s one-time bonus if the referred friend trades heavily for years, and some exchanges’ promotional welcome offers spike higher than Kraken’s headline during campaigns. What Kraken gives up in ceiling it returns in predictability: defined requirements, a documented base amount, a stated 14-day payout window, and terms published where anyone can read them. For most people deciding whether a referral program is worth the extra signup steps, that predictability is the feature.