Centralized exchanges

Kraken vs Coinbase

Two long-running CEXes often shortlisted by people who care about compliance posture and boring operational hygiene more than meme listings. Still custodial. Still capable of outages and account-takeover waves.

Compare method. Live exchange facts + passports. Security/bug-bounty posture and outage notes appear under Incidents / Sources. Method: How we check evidence.

Live evidence snapshot

Scores and facts below come from TokenScouts API collectors (CoinGecko, GitHub, and related sources), not from invented hands-on tests. Empty Checks/Incidents stay hidden until we have something real to show.

Risk Passports

Kraken

Risk Passport
Status
Verified
Score
98/100
Coverage
100%

Checked Sep 25, 2026

  • Evidence coverage 100
  • Data quality 91
  • Trust signals 100
  • Transparency 100

Coinbase

Risk Passport
Status
Verified
Score
98/100
Coverage
100%

Checked Sep 25, 2026

  • Evidence coverage 100
  • Data quality 91
  • Trust signals 100
  • Transparency 100

Key Sources facts

Kraken

Live Sources

4 verified · 1 observed

  • Trust score Verified
    10
  • Trust score rank Verified
    3
  • Trade volume 24h (BTC) Observed
    20,291.10
  • Year established Verified
    2,011
  • Country Verified
    United States

Full Sources on review →

Coinbase

Live Sources

4 verified · 1 observed

  • Trust score Verified
    10
  • Trust score rank Verified
    1
  • Trade volume 24h (BTC) Observed
    28,221.66
  • Year established Verified
    2,012
  • Country Verified
    United States

Full Sources on review →

Checks & incidents

Kraken

Checks: 4 pass / 0 fail · Incidents curated: 2

Coinbase

Checks: 0 pass / 4 fail · Incidents curated: 2

Decision table

Dimension Kraken Coinbase
Brand posture Trader/security-leaning heritage Retail + US public-company brand
Custody Custodial Custodial
What collectors show Trust/volume + passport coverage Trust/volume + passport coverage
Homework Security program materials + outage history ATO / phishing disclosures + outage patterns

Compliance is not invulnerability

Licenses and public filings change legal surface—they do not delete phishing, SIM-swap, or operational incidents.

Fees rot; evidence ages

We refuse hard-coded maker/taker tables. Re-check official fee schedules and regional product availability.

Choose after reading Incidents

Open both reviews, skim Incidents + Sources, then decide how much custody risk you accept.

Want denser markets?

See Bybit vs Binance—different product density and incident homework.

Not financial, legal, or tax advice.