Kraken, the US cryptocurrency exchange, has significantly expanded the maximum leverage available to traders on its professional platform, lifting caps across 44 trading pairs in what the company describes as its largest single leverage expansion on Kraken Pro.
The changes are organised across four asset categories, each with a different rationale and risk profiles.
Stablecoin pairs, which track assets designed to hold a fixed value against the US dollar, see the most aggressive increase, with 17 pairs now eligible for up to 10 times leverage, up from as little as 2 times in some cases.
Eight pairs covering bitcoin and ether quoted in Canadian dollars, sterling and Swiss francs, as well as tokenised gold products, move to 5 times leverage.
Mid-cap and higher-momentum assets, along with decentralised finance tokens and euro-denominated pairs, also move to 5 times leverage across a further 19 pairs.
Kraken framed the announcement in strategic rather than simply commercial terms, describing the changes as an expansion of traders' available surface area rather than an across-the-board increase in risk appetite.
The distinction matters to a degree: stablecoin pairs, for example, carry very different volatility characteristics to mid-cap tokens, meaning the same leverage multiple implies substantially different levels of risk depending on the underlying asset.
Kraken acknowledges the risks directly, warning that margin trading may not be suitable for all investors and that additional fees apply.
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Eligible traders must hold at least one approved collateral currency to access the products, and availability varies by jurisdiction.
The margin trading service is operated by Payward Trading Ltd, a Kraken entity incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, rather than by the group's main regulated entities.
The recap
- Kraken Pro raises margin leverage across 44 trading pairs
- Stablecoin pairs increased to 10x on 17 pairs
- Spot margin products offered by Payward Trading Ltd in BVI
