Update 1/5/26: Extended through 1/31/26 (link)
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. (And, per Kraken support, you need to be opted into the Lending program for the entire year of the promo.) I also see an exclusion that you can’t do any ACATS-out transfer during the promotional period.
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 | 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” and so you would be able to sell it immediately and buy a stock or ETF with the funds.
Here’s how I went out doing this deal:
- Go through a shopping portal when opening the Kraken account (see this post for offers from Rakuten, Topcashback, Capital One Shopping). I input a $75 referral code during signup for an extra stackable bonus; more details in this post. No referral requests/offers in the comments below.
- Purchase Kraken+ for $49.99/year. I took the 30 day free trial and then paid for one year. I now have 13 months of Kraken+.
- Start the transfer process well in advance of the promo end date since often transfers fail or only the first stock goes through and the rest fail. Also be sure to document Cost Basis in your older brokerage since, per reports, Kraken isn’t good about transferring those over and might need manual input. (See reader reports about cost basis in the comments below.)
- Transfer over your stocks/ETFs to Kraken 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 reimbursed from Kraken.)
- Get the 2% bonus match in USDG on October 1, 2025.
- Immediately sell the USDG and buy SGOV or VTI or whatever.
- Be sure to remain Kraken+ member throughout the entire year-long hold period.
- Hold your funds with Kraken until October 1, 2026 and then you can transfer everything out if you don’t want to remain long term.
Readers note in the comments that Kraken does not support dividend reinvesting, so keep that in mind if DRIPs is important to you. Also, as noted, the Cost Basis transfer is a manual hassle with Kraken.
Hat tip to reader Manny
No referrals in the comments below.
