Update 10/1/25: Extended through 11/30/25 as shown at this link. New hold period is for 1 year from 12/1/25. Important: readers noticed that they now require participation in the Fully Paid Stock Lending program, and so it’s not as secure as before since it might not be covered by SIPC (?). I also see an exclusion that you can’t do any ACATS-out transfer during the promotional period. Personally I’d probably give this deal a miss due to the added terms.
Furthermore, only client accounts which are participating in our Fully Paid Stock Lending program are deemed eligible for this program. This means customers must opt in and remain opted into Fully Paid Stock Lending to be eligible. You can opt in via the settings in your app*.
During the promotion period, users who have initiated an outbound ACATS transfer from Kraken to another brokerage firm are not eligible to receive the bonus.
Original Post 8/29/25:
The Offer
New link | Direct Link to offer
- Kraken Securities is offering a 2% bonus to their Kraken+ members who transfer stocks or ETFs via ACATS transfer by September 30, 2025.
The Fine Print
- The promotion period starts on August 27th, 2025 and ends on September 30th, 2025. Transfer requests must have been initiated within the promotion period in order to qualify.
- 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 (brokercheck link – I found them). We’ve seen 2% bonus with a 5 year hold (Robinhood) or a 2 year hold (WeBull), but never with a low one-year hold.
Far as I can tell this bonus is publicly available to all, though it could be worth confirming. The only catch I’m seeing is that the bonus is paid out in USDG crypto, but the Q&A says that the funds are “available for trading” so I’d think you would be able to sell it immediately and buy a stock or ETF with the funds (?).
Here’s how I’m thinking about going ahead with this deal:
- Go through Topcashback when opening the Kraken account (or other options, see this comment); others recommend using a $75 referral link instead. See also this comment for more stacks. No referral requests/offers in the comments below.
- Purchase Kraken+ for $49.99/year. I’d take the 30 day free trial and then do one paid year. That way, all the way through 10/1/26 when I become eligible for the bonus I’m a Kraken+ member.
- Transfer over your stocks/ETFs to Kraken by September 30, 2025. Minimum transfer $5,000. No maximum. I’d limit myself to $500,000 which is the SIPC insurance limit.
- (Get any transfer fees reimbursed.)
- Get the 2% bonus match in USDG on October 1, 2025.
- Immediately sell the USDG and buy SGOV or VTI or whatever.
- Hold your funds with Kraken until October 1, 2026 and then you can transfer everything out.
I want to stress that I’m not yet personally comfortable with this given the crypto background here and given that I haven’t yet researched enough. I’m also concerned about whether they’ll keep the cost basis during transfers (we’ve seen issues on that with other brokerages). Please do your own research and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Readers note in the comments that Kraken does not support dividend reinvesting, so keep that in mind if DRIPs is important to you.
Hat tip to reader Manny
No referrals in the comments below.
