Fees · 6 min
Kraken Prop's 17 Crypto Challenges: The $20 One Is Hardest
Seventeen evaluations, three plans, one inversion: the cheapest thing Kraken Prop sells is also the tightest test it sells. Here is the full fee matrix, what it costs per percentage point of drawdown, and the break-even on the 90% split add-on - arithmetic the plan pages do not do.
Kraken Prop sells three plans across six wallet sizes, which is seventeen separate evaluations. The prices are read from Kraken's own plan tables and are not a sale: they are what the checkout asks.
The cheapest evaluation is also the tightest
The Advanced plan costs $20 for a $5,000 wallet, and it carries a 3% maximum drawdown with a 3% daily loss limit. Nothing else on the ladder is cheaper per dollar of account, and nothing else is stricter. The Starter plan, with twice the drawdown at 6%, costs $45 - more than twice as much for the same $5,000 wallet.
That inversion is the whole story of this firm. You are not buying a cheaper challenge. You are choosing how much room you need before the account closes, and paying more for the room.
All seventeen, priced
| Plan | Target | Daily loss | Max drawdown | $5k | $10k | $25k | $50k | $100k | $200k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced | 9% | 3% | 3% | $20 | $40 | $95 | $180 | $330 | $660 |
| Intermediate | 12% | 3% | 5% | $33 | $65 | $150 | $280 | $545 | $1,090 |
| Starter | 10% | 3% | 6% | $45 | $85 | $215 | $400 | $800 | - |
Fee per percentage point of drawdown
A fee on its own does not say much, because the plans sell different amounts of room. Measured as cost per 1% of maximum drawdown at the $25,000 size:
- Intermediate - $150 for 5%: $30.00 per point
- Advanced - $95 for 3%: $31.67 per point
- Starter - $215 for 6%: $35.83 per point
They are close, which is the point: Kraken prices the plans roughly linearly and the choice is a risk preference rather than a bargain. Intermediate is the best value per point at $25k, and it also has the highest target at 12%. Starter is the worst value on both counts, which is worth knowing because it is the plan named for beginners.
The 90% split is a paid add-on, and it has a break-even
Every plan advertises 80% to 90%. The 90% figure costs 20% more on the fee. On the cheapest evaluation that is $4, taking $20 to $24.
Ten percentage points of extra split only return a tenth of the profit, so the add-on pays for itself once you have earned twenty times the extra fee - $40 of profit on a $5,000 account, which is 0.8% of the wallet. Before that point the add-on is a cost, and after it the add-on is free money. Most traders who reach a paying account clear 0.8% in the first session.
The rules that actually decide it
One phase, no time limit, a 3% daily loss limit on all three plans, and leverage up to 5x on 60+ crypto pairs through Kraken Pro's web and mobile interface. The target is 9% on Advanced, 12% on Intermediate and 10% on Starter.
Identity verification happens after the evaluation: an email and a country to buy, full Kraken verification before the funded account and before any payout. That is a real consideration for anyone choosing this firm for its crypto-only status rather than its KYC terms.
How you get paid, and where
Payouts are credited as an internal transfer to your main Kraken wallet, minimum $50, typically within 12 hours and guaranteed inside 24. There is no option to send straight to an external wallet. If your plan was to withdraw to a self-custody address in the same motion, this firm does not support it: you receive it on Kraken, then move it out yourself.
What to check before paying
- The fee is not refundable once you start trading. Kraken states this in its own FAQ for every attempt, regardless of outcome.
- Kraken calls the service unregulated. The counterparty is Payward Oceanic Ltd, registered in the British Virgin Islands, and the FAQ says so in plain terms.
- The 3% daily limit binds first. With a 3% daily limit and a 3% maximum drawdown on Advanced, a single bad day can end the attempt before the maximum drawdown is reached. Size positions against the daily number, not the total.
- No Starter plan at $200,000. The largest wallet is only available on Advanced and Intermediate.
Who it suits
Traders who already hold crypto on Kraken and want a single-phase evaluation on perpetual-style contracts without moving funds to another venue. The small wallet sizes are cheap enough to treat as paid practice, at $20 and $40.
It suits less well anyone who needs an external-wallet payout, anyone in Canada, India or the UK - all three are excluded - and anyone who expected the cheapest plan to come with the widest rules.
Full terms, sources and the payout ladder are on the Kraken Prop review page. The same comparison exists for Propr and Velotrade, the other two firms whose whole ladder is priced the same way.
Where the firm figures live
Nothing on this page is a firm's published number. The dated figures for each firm are on the comparison page and on the individual reviews, each with the source page it came from.
If something here is wrong, send the correction to research@cryptopropfirms.com.