Update 5/8/26: The offer is valid until May 31. However, they lowered it to 1.5% for Kraken+ members (previously 2%). The rest of the terms are mostly the same, although they increased the bonus limit (previously: $1 million transfer > now: $1 million bonus). They also softened the stock lending requirement language somewhat: “Where applicable, participants may be required to activate FPSL…” Not sure how that will work, practically.
Update 4/10/26: Postponed until 30.04.26. Requires registration. The new offer added a limit of $20,000 ($1 million transfer). Here are the new terms – link. Stock lending requests still appear (described below).
Update on 2/13/26: The deal is back. Fund between 12/26/26 and 3/31/26. Keep funds and Kraken+ membership from 4/1/26 to 4/1/27. Valid for new or existing Kraken members. No registration required. Remember again that you must be elected to the fully paid share credit program for the entire year and also not make an ACATS exit until April 2026; these things will invalidate the bonus. (hat tip to reader 007)
Update 2/6/26: The stock transfer bonus has expired. See this post for a new cash/crypto deposit bonus.
Update 1/5/26: Extended until 1/31/26 (RELATED)
Update 10/1/25: Extended through 11/30/25 as shown in this connection. The new retention period is for 1 year from 12/1/25. Important: readers noted that they now require participation in the fully paid up share loan program, and so it is not as safe as before as it may not be covered by SIPC. (And, for supporting Krakenyou must be in the loan program for the entire promotion year.) I also see an exception that you cannot any Transfer ACATS-out during the promotion period.
Furthermore, only accounts of customers participating in our fully paid-up stock lending program are considered eligible for this program. This means that customers must opt-in and remain opted-in to the Fully Paid Share Loan to be eligible. You can choose through the settings in your app*.
During the promotion period, users who initiated an external ACATS transfer from Kraken to another brokerage firm are not eligible to receive the bonus.
Original post 8/29/25:
Offers
New connection | New connection | New connection | Direct link to the offer
- Kraken Securities is offering a 2% bonus to their Kraken+ members who transfer stocks or ETFs through ACATS transfer until September 30, 2025.
Fine Press
- The promotion period begins on August 27, 2025 and ends on September 30, 2025. Transfer requests must have been initiated within the promotion period to be eligible.
- New York and Maine
and Washington Stateresidents are excluded
Our verdict
Kraken is a crypto brand, but they also have a securities arm and they appear to be legitimately SIPC insured (broker control link – I found them). We’ve seen 2% bonuses with a 5-year hold (Robinhood) or a 2-year hold (WeBull), but never with a low one-year hold.
As far as I can tell this bonus is publicly available to everyone, though it might be worth confirming. The only thing I’m seeing is that the bonus is paid out in crypto USDG, but the Q&A says the funds are “available for trading” and so you’ll be able to sell them immediately and buy a stock or ETF with the funds.
Here’s how I ended up making this deal:
- Go through a shopping portal when you open a Kraken account (see this post for offers from Rakuten, Topcashback, Capital One Shopping). I enter a $75 referral code during registration for an additional stackable bonus; more details in this post. No referral requests/offers in the comments below.
- Buy Kraken+ for $49.99/year. I got the 30 day free trial and then paid for a year. I now have 13 months of Kraken+.
- Start the transfer process well before the promotion end date as transfers often fail or only the first stock goes through and the rest fail. Also be sure to document the Cost Basis in your older brokerage as Kraken is reportedly not good at transferring them and may require manual input. (See reader reports about the cost basis in the comments below.)
- Transfer over your Kraken stocks/ETFs by September 30, 2025. Minimum transfer $5,000 per transfer. No maximum. I limited myself to $500,000 which is the SIPC insurance limit.
- (Get any transfer fees from your old brokerage refunded by Kraken.)
- Get the 2% bonus match on USDG on October 1, 2025.
- Immediately sell USDG and buy SGOV or VTI or whatever.
- Make sure you remain a Kraken+ member throughout the one-year retention period.
- Keep your funds with Kraken until October 1, 2026, and then you can transfer everything if you don’t want to stay long-term.
Readers note in the comments that Kraken does not support dividend reinvestment, so keep that in mind if DRIPs are important to you. Also, as mentioned, cost basis transfer is a manual hassle with Kraken.
Hat tip to reader Manny
There are no references in the comments below.
