Kraken - Fees, Staking, Parachain Auctions, & Crowdloans
What is Kraken?
Kraken is a United States-based cryptocurrency exchange and bank founded in 2011. The exchange provides trading between cryptocurrency and fiat currencies. As of 2021, Kraken is available to residents of 48 US states and 176 countries and lists 72 cryptocurrencies available for trade. Wikipedia
If you don't have an active Kraken account, please sign up here, or by scanning this QR:
Kraken Fees
I've found the Kraken maker-taker fees to be competitive or comparable to other exchange platforms. Kraken offers crypto trading via Instant Buy or Kraken Pro. Still, I highly suggest you familiarize yourself with the Kraken Pro interface, as the trading fees are markedly lower than Instant Buy. With Instant Buy, you are paying higher fees for simplicity and convenience.
Instant Buy Fees:
Kraken Pro Fees:
Instant Buy fees will vary between 0.9-3.75% per transaction, while Kraken Pro will charge 0.1-0.26% per transaction, depending on your 30-day trading volume. Even with the lowest 30-day trading volume, the price per transaction is substantially lower.
Kraken Staking
Staking is a great way to maximize your holdings in staking coins and fiat that would otherwise be sitting in your Kraken account. Once you have staked your assets, you can earn staking rewards on top of your holdings and grow them further by compounding those future rewards.
How to stake on Kraken?
Login to your Kraken account
Select Earn from the top banner menu
Select the Staking tab (if you aren't already there)
Select Stake
5. Select an asset to stake
6. Select Deposit or Buy
7. Complete your transaction
Parachain
Polkadot and Kusama are among the most exciting blockchain projects today. One of the main reasons why people are excited about them are parachains
What is a parachain?
A parachain is a customized blockchain that connects to either the Polkadot or Kusama blockchain platform. Essentially, parachains give projects the ability to create blockchains that are tailored for specific use-cases, can interoperate with other parachains, and benefit from the security of the Relay Chain.
What is a parachain slot auction?
The Polkadot and Kusama platforms don’t support an infinite amount of parachains – at this time, the upper limit is 100 parachains on each network, but this limit could be adjusted over time through governance.
If a project wants to create a parachain and connect it to the Kusama Relay Chain, they need to win a parachain slot auction. To accomplish this, they need to have submitted the highest bid of KSM or DOT (depending on which platform the auction is for) at the time of the auction’s conclusion.
For more information on parachain slot auctions, you can check out the official Polkadot Wiki.
How to participate in a parachain auction on Kraken?
Login to your Kraken account
Select Earn from the top banner menu
Select the Parachains tab
Select the Down Arrow (This project is accepting contributions until the ending date)
If you are interested in a specific parachain auction, you must be quick to deposit as there is a contribution limit.
Crowdloans
Since it can be difficult for projects to amass enough tokens to win a parachain slot auction by themselves, both Polkadot and Kusama have implemented “crowdloans”. In a crowdloan, users can back a project’s parachain slot auction campaign by temporarily lending them KSM or DOT. The projects are essentially reaching out for funding to a distributed venture capitalist.
Users who support projects by locking up their KSM or DOT will receive their tokens back once the project’s parachain lease expires – the maximum slot duration is 2 years, but it can also be shorter. Since your tokens will be locked through the duration of the parachain lease, make sure to check the length before you commit funds.
Users also get their tokens back if the project fails to win the parachain slot auction.
In this article, you have learned how to stake cryptocurrency and participate in parachain auctions.
You are welcome to comment below with any questions or comments.
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