Kraken Futures vs BloFin

Kraken Futures vs BloFin: which to use

Kraken Futures vs BloFin is a comparison of two centralized exchanges that both match on an order book. Kraken Futures charges 2 bp maker and 5 bp taker, requires full KYC, and offers up to 100x on 278 perp markets. BloFin charges 2 bp maker and 6 bp taker, lets you trade futures without ID at up to 150x with withdrawals capped at 20,000 USDT a day until you verify, and lists 495 markets. Taker fee, ID requirements and market count decide it for most traders: Kraken Futures for the lower taker rate, BloFin for no-ID access and more markets.

How each exchange is built

Kraken Futures is a centralized exchange (CEX): you open an account with the company, and the account holds your funds. BloFin is built the same way. Both match orders on a central limit order book. For the trader, that means an exchange account rather than a self-custody wallet on both sides.

Fees and what they mean

Kraken Futures' base tier is 2 bp maker and 5 bp taker, per Kraken's fee schedule. BloFin's base tier is 2 bp maker and 6 bp taker, per BloFin's fee page. A basis point (bp) is 0.01% of the position.

The maker rate is the same on both. A limit order that rests on the book and fills later pays 2 bp on either exchange. The taker rate differs. A market order pays it to open and again to close, so a round trip is 10 bp on Kraken Futures and 12 bp on BloFin in fees alone.

Fees are only part of the cost. Slippage, the price you move by eating through the order book, grows with size. The cost table above adds the taker fee twice and the measured slippage at each size from $1k to $5M. Every exchange's trading cost is also compared on one page.

Markets and leverage

As of 1 October 2026 Kraken Futures lists 278 active perpetual markets, 19 of them stocks, commodities, FX or other real-world assets. BloFin lists 495, 115 of them real-world assets. If you trade perps on stocks, gold and other real-world assets, BloFin has more of them. Kraken Futures has fewer.

Kraken Futures allows up to 100x on its highest-leverage market and BloFin up to 150x. Most markets on both allow less.

Kraken Futures pays funding every hour on every market. BloFin pays every 1 hour, 4 hours or 8 hours depending on the market. Funding is the periodic payment between longs and shorts, and a positive rate means longs pay shorts. An hourly market settles 24 times a day, an 8-hour market three times, so check a market's interval before you hold a position on BloFin. The list further down this page shows the markets both exchanges have and each one's funding rate.

Who can use them

Kraken Futures requires full verification. It is closed to the US (which has a separate US product), Canada, Australia (wholesale only) and retail UK clients.

BloFin limits accounts without ID. Trading starts without ID, inside limits that verification lifts. You can trade futures with no ID and no leverage limit, but withdrawals are capped at 20,000 USDT a day until you verify.

Reading the numbers on this page

Both exchanges publish open interest as one side of open positions, so the open interest row and chart above compare like with like in counting method. Neither exchange publishes TVL, as is usual for a centralized exchange, so the TVL row and chart have no figure for either one.

Live figures such as volume, open interest, funding and cost per trade are in the Head to head table and the charts above. The BTC page lists every exchange that carries BTC, with funding, price and liquidity.

Which one fits you

• Pick Kraken Futures if you trade with market orders: its taker fee is 5 bp against BloFin's 6 bp.
• Pick Kraken Futures if you want hourly funding on every market, with no 4-hour or 8-hour markets to check.
• Pick BloFin if you want to start trading futures without ID, with withdrawals up to 20,000 USDT a day before you verify.
• Pick BloFin if you want more markets: 495 against 278.
• Pick BloFin if you want stocks, commodities and FX on the same exchange as your crypto: 115 markets against 19.
• Pick BloFin if you need more than 100x, up to its 150x maximum.