Kraken Futures vs Phemex

Kraken Futures or Phemex: which to use

Kraken Futures vs Phemex is a choice between two centralized exchanges that both require KYC and match orders on a central limit order book. Kraken Futures charges 2 bp maker and 5 bp taker, offers 278 perp markets and pays funding every hour on every market. Phemex charges 1 bp maker and 6 bp taker, lists 67 real-world-asset markets and allows up to 150x against Kraken Futures' 100x. Fee mix, real-world-asset count, leverage and funding interval decide it for most traders. Region limits matter too.

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. It matches orders on a central limit order book. Phemex is built the same way: an account at the company that holds your funds, with a central limit order book. On both, the funds sit in your account with the company.

Fees and what they mean

Kraken Futures' base tier is 2 bp maker and 5 bp taker, per Kraken's fee schedule. Phemex's base tier is 1 bp maker and 6 bp taker, per Phemex's trading fee page.

A market order pays the taker fee to open and again to close: 10 bp per round trip on Kraken Futures, 12 bp on Phemex. A limit order that rests on the book pays the maker fee instead, 2 bp on Kraken Futures and 1 bp on Phemex. If you mostly place limit orders, Phemex's maker rate is lower. If you mostly use market orders, Kraken Futures' taker rate is lower.

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

Markets, leverage and funding

As of 1 October 2026 Kraken Futures lists 278 active perps, 19 of them stocks, commodities, FX or other real-world assets. Phemex lists 132, of which 67 are real-world assets. Kraken Futures has more markets overall. Phemex has more real-world-asset markets, in number and as a share of its list. The real-world asset perps page covers that category.

Kraken Futures allows up to 100x on its highest-leverage market and Phemex up to 150x. Most markets on both allow less, so check the cap on the market you plan to trade.

Kraken Futures pays funding every hour on every market. Phemex pays every 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, so a position held briefly is charged or credited closer to the time you held it. An 8-hour market settles three times a day, so a position closed before the next payment pays or receives nothing for that period. 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 not offered in the US (which has a separate US product), Canada or to retail UK clients, and in Australia it is offered to wholesale clients only. Phemex also requires KYC, which unlocks spot and futures trading. An unverified Phemex account cannot withdraw at all. Check your region against Kraken Futures' list before you register.

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 TVL, as is usual for a centralized exchange, so the TVL row and chart carry no figure for either.

Volume, open interest, funding and cost change every minute and are shown live in the Head to head table and the charts above. The market counts in this article are fixed to 1 October 2026.

Which one fits you

• Pick Kraken Futures if you trade with market orders: 5 bp taker against 6 bp on Phemex.
• Pick Kraken Futures if you want every market on an hourly funding schedule.
• Pick Kraken Futures if you want a wider list of perps: 278 markets against 132.
• Pick Phemex if you place limit orders: 1 bp maker against 2 bp on Kraken Futures.
• Pick Phemex if you want stocks, commodities and FX on the same exchange as your crypto: 67 real-world-asset markets against 19.
• Pick Phemex if you need more than 100x: it offers up to 150x on its highest-leverage market.