Kraken is offering for any customer that deposits $1,000+ in cash or crypto during October. The deposit bonus will vary from 1% to 2% depending on total deposits across all customers, with the strange rule that when $500 million in total aggregate deposits are made and the full 2% deposit is triggered, the entire promo ends immediately, so you need to have participated by then. The bonus will then be paid within 14 days after the promo ends, in their USDG stablecoin.
Net deposits are calculated by total cash and crypto deposited, minus withdrawals during the promotion period. Your deposits earn a 1% match rate, which can boost up to 2% based on community progress. The final rate is set based on the total community net deposit value at the end of the promo (Oct 31 or when $500M is reached).
You must keep your net deposits at Kraken through November 1st, 2026. You can trade your deposit, and market fluctuations are okay as long as you don’t withdraw any funds. Full terms .
Kraken is best known as a crypto exchange, but as of early 2025 they now offer US stock trading under Kraken Securities through a partnership with Alpaca (). The terms say that you can trade your deposits, so technically I don’t see why you couldn’t move your cash to Kraken, buy a T-Bill ETF like SGOV or VBIL (current SEC yields ~4.11% and 4.12%), and basically earn up to an additional 2% APY on your cash for a year.
A 2% deposit bonus for a 12-month hold is a pretty good deal. For me, the main catch is that you have to trust the US regulatory agencies that manage SIPC insurance in case Kraken Securities fails during the next year. ETFs held in an SIPC brokerage account are definitely better than an uninsured crypto account, but I just worry it could be messy, so I’d probably size my risk (deposit amount) accordingly.
If you haven’t already, you should also grab Kraken’s and 30 days of free money spins, where I earned almost $20 in random crypto like DOGE and PEPE:
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