Kraken in Ireland: Who Runs It, Regulation and Fees

Is Kraken legal in Ireland?

Owning crypto is legal in Ireland. For that distinction, see is bitcoin legal in Ireland?. When you check an exchange, the more useful question is which company provides the service and whether it has the required authorisation.

Since 1 July 2026, MiCAR transition periods across all EU member states have ended. The Central Bank's consumer notice says firms serving EU consumers must hold a MiCAR licence. Ireland's own transition period ended on 29 December 2025.

Kraken's Irish crypto entities appear on the ESMA register, as listed on 12 November 2026. That answers the authorisation question for the services recorded there. It does not tell you what a trade will cost or remove the risk of loss. Our MiCA guide for Ireland explains the regulatory context, while the Irish exchange guide covers the checks to make when looking at a provider.

Which Kraken companies serve you in Ireland

Kraken's legal disclosures separate services between the following companies, as read on 12 November 2026. PESL and PGSL are the abbreviations used for the first two entities.

Derivatives are high risk. Their provider is a different entity from PESL.

The entity matters because it is the firm your contract is with. Read the terms for the service you intend to use, rather than stopping at the Kraken brand name. A statement about one Payward company does not establish which company provides another service.

What the ESMA register shows

The ESMA CASPS file contains two Kraken entries, as listed on 12 November 2026. Both record Ireland as the home member state and the Central Bank of Ireland as the competent authority. Both give 25 June 2025 as the authorisation date, with an address at 70 Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2.

PESL appears under the commercial name Kraken Digital Asset Exchange. Its listed services include holding and administering customers' crypto, exchanging crypto for money or other crypto, and executing customer orders. The entry also covers placing crypto-assets, receiving and passing on orders, portfolio management and crypto transfers. Ireland, shown as IE, is among the 30 countries listed for those services.

PGSL appears under the commercial name Kraken, Kraken Digital Asset Exchange. Its listed service is operating a crypto trading platform, with Cyprus and Ireland recorded as the countries served.

These are separate rows with different service descriptions. Read the relevant row rather than assuming the platform entry covers every activity.

ESMA says its interim register consists of CSV files updated weekly, so information may not appear immediately. Open the ESMA MiCA page and check the current file yourself before relying on an older copy.

What authorisation does and does not mean

MiCA sets rules around custody and complaints, as well as conflicts of interest. Authorisation gives you a regulatory point to check. It does not make the price of bitcoin or another crypto-asset stable.

Kraken's MiCAR page lists an Order Execution Policy and Commercial Policy, as read on 12 November 2026. It also lists Complaints Handling Procedures, a Conflicts of Interest Disclosure and a Custody Policy Statement. MiCAR whitepapers and ESG information appear there too.

Read the policy relevant to your question. If your concern is how assets are held, start with the custody statement. For a problem with the service, look at the complaints procedures and the entity named in your terms.

You can still lose all the money you put in. MiCA does not protect you from price falls, and crypto is not covered by the Deposit Guarantee Scheme or Investor Compensation Scheme, as the notice above explains. For questions about holding bitcoin yourself, see our bitcoin wallets guide.

What Kraken's fee page says

Kraken's English fee schedule lists a 1% trading fee for instant and recurring trades through its app or website, as read on 12 November 2026. Custom orders carry a 1.5% fee. Small instant trades have a fee of up to $2 instead of the 1% charge. The page gives that amount in dollars; it is not a euro figure.

That trading fee is only part of the cost to check. The instant buy or sell price includes a spread, and Kraken may keep excess spread. The spread varies with the asset and volatility, order size and type, VIP status and account activity.

Payment fees may also apply, depending on the method. Kraken gives cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay as examples. Check the order preview for the price, trading fee and any payment charge before confirming anything.

The same schedule lists a fixed 3% fee for Convert Small Balances on amounts below the minimum order size, as read on 12 November 2026. Do not assume the standard instant trading percentage applies to that feature.

Kraken+ members can have trading fees waived on up to $10,000, or the local currency equivalent including EUR, in monthly Buy, Sell or Convert volume through the app or website, as read on 12 November 2026. Spread and card fees still apply. The waiver does not cover Kraken Pro spot, futures, API or OTC activity.

Deposit and withdrawal fees depend on the method and currency. Kraken says it may adjust them, so check the relevant deposit or withdrawal page in the app before moving money. Kraken Pro has its own order-book fee table on the same schedule. The instant trading percentages above should not be used as Pro figures.

If you need context for the transaction screen, our guide to buying bitcoin in Ireland explains the process. Keep the final preview in view when assessing the cost of your own order.

Tax on crypto bought through Kraken

Selling, swapping or spending crypto can be a disposal for Capital Gains Tax (CGT). Swapping into another crypto-asset can therefore matter for tax even when you have not withdrawn euro. Keep records of your activity.

For disposals on or after 7 October 2026, the CGT rate is 31% for most gains. An individual has a personal exemption of €1,270 each year. If your chargeable gain is below that amount, no CGT is due. Activity amounting to a trade can fall under income tax instead of CGT, so the treatment depends on your circumstances.

Payment and filing have different deadlines:

• For disposals from 1 January to 30 November, pay CGT by 15 December.
• For December disposals, pay by 31 January of the following year.
• File the return by 31 October of the year after the disposal.

Our Irish crypto tax guide explains disposals and the annual exemption. The guide to reporting crypto to Revenue deals with payment and filing.

Under DAC8, crypto providers have collected user and transaction information since 1 January 2026. First reports covering 2026 are due to Revenue by 31 May 2027. Providers report to tax authorities; that reporting should not replace your own records. Read more about DAC8 crypto reporting in Ireland, and speak to a tax adviser about your position.

How to check Kraken yourself

1. Open ESMA's MiCA page and download the current CASPS file. Find the Payward entries and read the authorisation details. Remember that ESMA updates the interim register weekly.
2. Search for “Payward” on the Central Bank registers. Our automated search returned no readable results on 12 November 2026, so this page does not claim an independent confirmation from that search.
3. Match the full legal entity in your account terms to the relevant register entry or provider disclosure. The name Kraken alone does not distinguish between PESL, PGSL and the other companies.
4. Check that the service you want appears in the entry. In particular, distinguish PESL's listed crypto services from PGSL's trading platform service.
5. Watch for fake Kraken sites and messages. Check the company details rather than relying on a familiar name in a message, and read our crypto scams guide.

Northern Ireland readers

This page covers the Republic of Ireland. Kraken's disclosures say UK customers are served by different entities, including Payward Limited, an FCA-registered cryptoasset business, as read on 12 November 2026. If you live in Northern Ireland, check which entity serves you and read the FCA's cryptoasset information for the UK rules.

Frequently asked questions