Hyperliquid vs Kraken for perpetual futures

The short answer

Kraken is one of the longest-running custodial exchanges, with a regulated European entity behind its international perpetuals and, since June 2026, a separate CFTC-regulated perpetuals product for US clients. Hyperliquid is an on-chain order book with your funds in your own account and no US access at all. On price, Hyperliquid is cheaper at the entry tier before any discount.

Fees

Kraken’s futures schedule starts at 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker for the first volume tier. Hyperliquid’s tier 0 is 0.015% maker and 0.045% taker, and a referral code takes the taker rate to 0.0432% from the first trade.

Kraken’s discounts come from thirty-day volume, and its first step down requires more than a retail account trades in a month. Hyperliquid’s first discount needs no history at all.

One caution specific to this page: the schedule compared here is Kraken’s international one. Kraken’s US perpetuals are a separate product with its own terms, and we have not verified its fees, so the table does not speak for it.

Funding still matters more than either number on anything held overnight. Hyperliquid settles funding hourly; the funding calculator turns your holding period into a cost you can compare.

Custody, support and what breaks

Kraken holds your funds and gives you what comes with that: account recovery, a support desk, a long operating record and a company accountable to regulators in several jurisdictions. Hyperliquid holds nothing; you have sole control and no one to call.

These are different failure modes rather than a safe choice and a risky one. On Kraken you carry the exchange’s solvency and its decisions about your account. On Hyperliquid you carry your own key management and the bridges you use. Our risk page ranks those honestly.

Access

Kraken verifies identity before you trade. Its perpetuals on the Kraken App are not offered in the US, UK, Canada or Australia; eligible US clients get a separate CFTC-regulated product on Kraken Pro instead. Hyperliquid verifies nobody and excludes residents of the United States and Ontario, Canada, along with sanctioned jurisdictions, under its Terms of Use.

That makes this an unusual comparison. For a US trader, Kraken is an answer and Hyperliquid is not, and we will not suggest a way around that. Our country pages say what is available where.

Where Kraken is genuinely better

• Fiat in and out in many currencies, by bank transfer.
• A regulated route for US traders, which nothing else on our comparison pages offers on-platform.
• A long operating record through several market cycles.
• Account recovery and a human support desk.
• Spot, margin and dated futures alongside perpetuals.
• Higher leverage ceiling, if you want it, which you probably should not.

Where Hyperliquid is genuinely better

• Cheaper on both sides at the entry tier, before any discount.
• You keep custody.
• No identity check.
• A discount from the first trade, with no volume requirement.
• Maker fees fall to zero at higher tiers and then pay a rebate.
• Hourly funding, no gas on trades, and a liquidation vault you can audit.

Who should pick which

Pick Kraken if you want to fund from a bank in your own currency, you are in the United States, or you value a long record and a support desk above holding your own keys.

Pick Hyperliquid if cost matters, you already hold crypto, you work limit orders, or you want custody of your balance and a venue you can verify rather than trust.

On the published international schedules Hyperliquid wins the price argument. On access and convenience Kraken does, and for one large group of traders it is the only one of the two that is open at all.