IG vs Kraken Crypto: Broker or Exchange? UK (2026)
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Quick Answer: IG or Kraken for Crypto?
This comparison is more useful than it looks, because these are genuinely different kinds of business. IG is a multi-asset broker where crypto sits alongside your forex, indices and shares, and it does it cheaply: 0% commission plus a 0.07% external fee on Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana, so about 70 pence on a £1,000 buy. Kraken is a dedicated crypto exchange with hundreds of coins, Kraken Pro for serious trading at 0.25% to 0.40%, and a staking feature that lets your coins earn a yield while you hold them. IG cannot offer staking. Kraken cannot offer the simplicity of buying crypto inside a broker you already use for everything else. On cost, IG wins on the big three. On breadth, staking and altcoin fees, Kraken Pro wins. The only route to skip on Kraken is the Instant Buy at around 1.5%, which costs about the same as IG charges on its smaller coins.
May 2026 Offer
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
These Are Not the Same Kind of Company
It is worth being clear about this before comparing a single fee, because it shapes everything else. IG is a long-established, FCA-regulated broker where crypto sits alongside forex, shares and indices. You buy spot crypto, you own the coins, and that is roughly the extent of it. Kraken is a crypto-native exchange that does crypto and almost nothing but, which is why it offers far more coins, ways to earn, and tools a broker never would.
On Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana, IG Is the Cheaper Answer
Not slightly cheaper. On a £1,000 Bitcoin purchase, IG costs 70 pence. The cheapest Kraken route, a maker order on Kraken Pro at 0.25%, costs £2.50. A taker order at 0.40% costs £4. Kraken’s convenient Instant Buy option sits at around 1.5%, which is £15 on the same trade. And unlike Kraken Pro, IG does not require you to know the difference between a maker and a taker order to get the cheapest price. You just buy.
The simplicity point matters more than it sounds
If you already use IG for anything, adding crypto is a few clicks inside the same account. No separate Kraken login, no funding a new exchange wallet, no figuring out which interface to use. For someone whose main interest is owning a bit of Bitcoin alongside the rest of their portfolio, that friction saving is worth something on its own.
Kraken Pulls Away the Moment You Want More
Once you are looking beyond the big three coins, or you want a serious trading setup, Kraken is in a different category. Hundreds of coins rather than a focused list, professional charting and proper order types on Kraken Pro, crypto futures for those who want them, and fees that scale down with volume. If crypto is the thing you are genuinely into, rather than one holding among many, Kraken is the deeper home and there is not much contest.
The one thing Kraken does that IG cannot: earn yield
Kraken lets you stake coins like Ethereum, Solana and Polkadot to earn a yield, advertised as high as around 22% APY on some assets, with an auto-earn option that puts idle balances to work. IG has no equivalent: you can hold your coins, but you cannot earn on them. For a long-term holder who wants their crypto doing something while they wait, that is a real, IG-shaped gap in IG’s offering.
The Cost Reality, Side by Side
Cost depends entirely on which coin you buy and which route you use. The big coins favour IG; smaller coins favour Kraken Pro.
| Buying £1,000 of crypto | Fee | What you pay |
|---|---|---|
| IG (BTC, ETH, SOL) | 0% commission + 0.07% | £0.70 |
| Kraken Pro (maker / taker) | 0.25% / 0.40% | £2.50 to £4.00 |
| Kraken Instant Buy | around 1.5% | £15 |
| IG (any other coin) | 1.49% flat | £14.90 |
The pattern is clear once you see it. For Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana, IG’s 70 pence beats everything. For coins outside that trio, IG’s 1.49% is expensive and Kraken Pro’s sub-0.4% wins easily. And whatever you do, Kraken’s Instant Buy at around 1.5% is the route to skip. Note too that funding Kraken by card costs 3.75% plus 21 pence, though a Faster Payments bank transfer is free.
The Honest Answer: Many People Use Both
IG for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana: cheap, simple, inside the broker you already know. Kraken for anything beyond that, for the coins IG does not carry, for staking, for the proper exchange experience. They are not really competing. I know people who have done exactly this split for years and have no reason to consolidate.
Where they do compete is at the edges. If you only want the big three and you already use IG, there is no particular reason to open Kraken at all. If crypto is central to your portfolio rather than peripheral, the breadth and yield potential on Kraken makes more sense than using a broker that does not stake and carries 100-odd coins versus hundreds.
My Take
If your crypto plan is to buy some Bitcoin and hold it, IG is the one I would use: 70 pence on a £1,000 buy, no exchange to learn, and your coins held with a serious regulated broker. Kraken is the better answer for the person whose interest is crypto itself, the one who wants hundreds of coins, a yield on their holdings and proper trading tools, and IG cannot serve that person.
For the cheap and simple route, you can see IG’s current crypto pricing here, and the full breakdown is in whether IG really offers 0% on Bitcoin.
Discuss IG vs Kraken for Crypto
Use IG, Kraken, or both? Tell us how you split buying the big coins versus the wider crypto stuff. Our community earns Equity for helpful contributions.
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References
- IG: Buy and sell crypto (UK)
- The Investors Centre: Does IG really offer 0% fees on Bitcoin?
- The Investors Centre: Is IG good for crypto?
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