The Kraken referral
bonus, explained

What you actually get

Kraken’s referral program currently pays up to $20 USDG for both you and the friend you invite — the help center puts it as $20 in your default currency (for example €20 of BTC or CA$20 of BTC). That is a reduction: earlier in 2026 the same page advertised up to $75, and Kraken cut the offer mid-year without an announcement — which is why most referral sites still show the old number. Crucially, Kraken shows the exact reward and the exact deposit/trade requirement inside your app when you sign up, so that is the number to trust. What we can tell you honestly: it is a real, official bonus — and it was never the “$500” some pages invent. You can read the program’s source directly on Kraken’s official referrals page, which is where our headline figure comes from.

One framing note: Kraken doesn’t run a separate “welcome bonus” for new customers. The referral reward is the closest thing Kraken has to a sign up bonus, which is why every guide to a “Kraken sign up bonus” — including this one — is ultimately describing the referral program. The code and the invite link are two doors into the same room.

The stronger offer for traders: 20% cashback on fees

Alongside the app welcome bonus, our referral now carries a Kraken Pro cashback link: sign up through it and Kraken’s own signup page displays the offer — “20% cashback on trading fees. You’re on track to earn it once you sign up and trade.” (verified July 17, 2026). Unlike the one-time app bonus, cashback scales with your activity: you pay Kraken’s normal fees and get 20% of them back. For anyone planning to trade regularly, that is worth more than any one-time welcome figure. The duration and any caps for the cashback are shown in your Kraken account — Kraken’s in-account terms are always the authoritative version.

Why other sites still say $75, $100 or €200

Here is the part almost nobody explains: Kraken changes its promotional levels without announcing it. Earlier in 2026 the US referrals page advertised up to $75, and Kraken’s own sitemap carried regional promo variants at $30, $50, $100 and $200 levels plus euro-denominated EEA versions. Those pages are where every “$75”, “$100” and “€200” claim you see on other referral sites comes from — figures that were once real and are now stale. As of July 17, 2026, Kraken’s referrals page advertises up to $20 USDG for both sides, globally.

All figures are advertised promotional levels — never guaranteed amounts. The exact figure is shown in your Kraken app before you commit to anything, and that in-app number always wins over any marketing page, ours included.

A concrete example of how the bonus plays out

Abstract terms are easy to misread, so here is what a typical qualifying run looks like on the calendar. This is an illustrative example — your actual reward and the trade threshold are the ones your Kraken app displays.

The payout timeline at a glance

The same sequence as a table. Note that only one step — the bank transfer — takes meaningful time; everything else is either instant or handled on Kraken’s side.

Who’s eligible

The bonus is region-limited and requires identity verification. These are the countries where Kraken’s referral bonus is currently available, per Kraken’s support documentation:

* In the United States, the referral bonus excludes residents of Maine and New York. There is also a same-country rule: the person who refers you must reside in the same country as you — with one exception, the EEA, where cross-border referrals between eligible EEA countries are fine (a friend in Germany can refer you in Spain, for example).

Is the Kraken referral bonus taxable?

Usually, yes — and it is worth knowing before the bonus lands rather than in April. In the United States, exchange sign-up and referral bonuses are generally treated as ordinary income at fair market value at the moment you receive them, the same way a bank account opening bonus is. Kraken, like other US-regulated exchanges, may issue a Form 1099-MISC where its reporting thresholds are met, so the amount can show up in paperwork even if it felt like pocket change. If the bonus is paid in crypto and you later sell it, any change in value between receipt and sale is a separate capital gain or loss on top of the income at receipt.

Outside the US, treatment varies widely — some countries tax promotional crypto rewards as income, others only when you dispose of the asset, and a few not at all at small amounts. The honest summary: assume it is reportable until you have confirmed otherwise for your country. None of this is tax advice; if the numbers matter to you, consult a professional who knows your jurisdiction.

What about the fees once you’re in?

The bonus is a one-time event; fees are forever, so they deserve a paragraph. Kraken effectively offers two pricing worlds. The standard Kraken app is built for simplicity — instant buys with pricing built into the spread plus a convenience fee, which is the more expensive way to trade but the easiest. Kraken Pro (free to use, same account) runs a classic maker/taker fee schedule: entry-tier rates are a fraction of a percent per trade, makers pay less than takers, and both step down as your 30-day volume grows. For anyone trading more than trivially, switching to Pro is the single biggest fee saving available — and it does not affect your referral bonus either way. Current rates are published on Kraken’s official fee schedule.

What Reddit threads say

Read enough r/CryptoCurrency and r/Kraken threads about referral codes and a consistent picture emerges — one that matches Kraken’s own terms. First, every valid code pays the same official reward, so claims of “premium” or “exclusive” codes with bigger payouts are false by construction; a Kraken invite code is a Kraken invite code. Second, the most common complaint is not scams but a bonus that never arrived — and in nearly every case the poster missed a requirement: they deposited by card instead of bank transfer, or their qualifying trade was into a stablecoin, or they slipped past the in-app deadline. Third, the reassuring consensus: using a stranger’s code is safe, because a referral code never grants anyone access to your account or your funds — it only tags who referred you. Our take is the same as Reddit’s: use any valid code, follow the requirements to the letter, and the bonus shows up.