Kraken Futures vs Coinbase International

Kraken Futures or Coinbase International: which to use

Kraken Futures vs Coinbase International is a choice between two centralized order-book exchanges with the same 2 bp maker fee and the same hourly funding. Kraken Futures charges 5 bp taker, lists 278 perp markets and allows up to 100x. Coinbase International charges 4 bp taker, lists 131 markets, 34 of them real-world assets, and allows up to 50x. Taker fee, leverage and the number of stock and commodity markets are the main differences. Pick Kraken Futures for more crypto markets and higher leverage. Pick Coinbase International for the lower taker fee and a larger share of real-world assets.

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. Coinbase International is built the same way. Both match orders on a central limit order book, so you trade against other users' resting orders, and both need an account before you can trade.

Fees and what they mean

Kraken Futures' base tier is 2 bp maker and 5 bp taker, per Kraken's fee schedule. Coinbase International's base tier is 2 bp maker and 4 bp taker, per Coinbase International's fee page.

A market order pays the taker fee to open and again to close: 10 bp per round trip on Kraken Futures and 8 bp on Coinbase International. A limit order that rests on the book pays the maker fee instead, 2 bp on both. The maker rate is identical, so the fee gap only shows up when you take liquidity.

Fees are only part of a trade's 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, and trading cost on other exchanges is 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. Coinbase International lists 131, 34 of them real-world assets. Kraken Futures has more markets in total. Coinbase International has more real-world asset markets, and they make up a larger share of its list.

Kraken Futures allows up to 100x on its highest-leverage market and Coinbase International up to 50x. Most markets on both allow less, so check the limit of the market you plan to trade.

Both pay funding every 1 hour on every market, so a position settles 24 times a day. The list further down this page shows the markets both exchanges have and each one's funding rate.

Who can use them

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

Coinbase International needs ID and a suitability check. Its perps are for eligible non-US countries and are closed to US and UK retail clients.

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. Neither publishes a TVL figure, as is usual for a centralized exchange, so the TVL row and chart have nothing to show for this pair.

The Head to head table highlights the better figure of each row, and the funding section shows the rates on the markets both exchanges list. The funding arbitrage ranking ranks pairs of exchanges on each asset by funding spread.

Which one fits you

• Pick Kraken Futures if you want more crypto perp markets: 278 against 131 as of 1 October 2026.
• Pick Kraken Futures if you need leverage above 50x, up to 100x on its highest-leverage market.
• Pick Coinbase International if you trade mostly with market orders: 4 bp taker against 5 bp.
• Pick Coinbase International if you want stocks, commodities and FX on the same exchange: 34 real-world asset markets against 19.
• Pick Coinbase International if a 50x cap is enough and you want the lower round-trip taker cost of 8 bp.