[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"compare:coinbase-vs-kraken::en":3},{"a":4,"b":36},{"slug":5,"name":6,"grade":7,"summary":8,"factors":9,"logo_url":27,"updated_at":28,"has_affiliate":29,"status":30,"review_body":31,"meta_title":32,"meta_description":33,"keywords":34,"reviewed_at":27,"published_at":35},"coinbase","Coinbase","B","Coinbase is a publicly traded, SEC-reporting U.S. company licensed in 45 states and holding a New York BitLicense, and the SEC's 2023 case against it was dismissed with prejudice in February 2025; it runs no crypto-specific proof-of-reserves programme and its last disclosed crime-insurance figure dates from 2019.",[10,14,17,21,24],{"key":11,"status":12,"note":13},"por","warn","Runs no exchange-wide proof-of-reserves programme; reserve assurance rests on its Deloitte-audited filings as an SEC-reporting public company, plus per-asset attestations for wrapped tokens such as cbBTC.",{"key":15,"status":12,"note":16},"custody","Coinbase Custody is an NYDFS-regulated qualified custodian, but the cold\u002Fhot storage split is not disclosed and we could not confirm it from a primary source.",{"key":18,"status":19,"note":20},"regulation","pass","New York BitLicense, FinCEN MSB registration, UK FCA registration FRN 900635 and licences in 45 U.S. states; paid a $100m NYDFS consent order in January 2023, and the SEC's 2023 unregistered-exchange suit was dismissed with prejudice on 27 February 2025.",{"key":22,"status":12,"note":23},"insurance","A $255m crime policy covering hot-wallet assets was disclosed in 2019; Coinbase still advertises commercial crime cover for custodied assets but has not confirmed a current figure.",{"key":25,"status":19,"note":26},"incidents","No confirmed platform-level breach of customer funds found in our research.",null,"2026-08-11T12:26:59+00:00",false,"active","\u003Cp>Coinbase is the most heavily licensed venue in this corpus and one of the very few that files audited accounts with a securities regulator. It still scores a B rather than higher, because being a public company is not the same as showing readers what you hold.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>What checks out\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Regulation is the clean factor. Coinbase holds a New York BitLicense, a FinCEN MSB registration, UK FCA registration FRN 900635 and licences in 45 U.S. states — every one of those checkable on a public register. The SEC's 2023 unregistered-exchange suit was dismissed with prejudice on 27 February 2025. A $100m NYDFS consent order from January 2023 sits on the same record and belongs beside it. We found no confirmed platform-level breach of customer funds.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Where the evidence stops\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>There is no exchange-wide proof-of-reserves programme. Reserve assurance rests on Deloitte-audited filings made as an SEC-reporting public company, plus per-asset attestations for wrapped tokens such as cbBTC. That is stronger than nothing, and weaker than a Merkle-tree proof you can check your own balance against. Coinbase Custody is an NYDFS-regulated qualified custodian, but the cold\u002Fhot split is not published and we could not confirm it from a primary source. The last crime-insurance figure we can point to — $255m covering hot-wallet assets — was disclosed in 2019; the company still advertises commercial crime cover for custodied assets without confirming a current number.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>How to read the grade\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Coinbase's protections are mostly institutional: audited accounts, a regulated custodian, a supervised licence book. They are meaningful, and they are not the same thing as a cryptographic proof you can verify yourself. The B says the paperwork is in order, and that the reader-verifiable evidence is thinner than the paperwork suggests.\u003C\u002Fp>","Coinbase safety review: B — licences yes, proof of reserves no","Coinbase grades B. An SEC-reporting public company licensed in 45 states with a NY BitLicense, but it runs no proof of reserves and no current insurance figure.",[],"2026-08-04T23:13:18+00:00",{"slug":37,"name":38,"grade":39,"summary":40,"factors":41,"logo_url":27,"updated_at":28,"has_affiliate":29,"status":30,"review_body":52,"meta_title":53,"meta_description":54,"keywords":55,"reviewed_at":27,"published_at":35},"kraken","Kraken","A-","Kraken holds a Wyoming SPDI charter, CFTC and SEC registrations and two EU MiCA authorisations, and has published Merkle-tree proof of reserves verified by Armanino LLP since February 2022; it discloses no insurance-fund figure.",[42,44,46,48,50],{"key":11,"status":19,"note":43},"Merkle-tree proof of reserves verified by third-party accountant Armanino LLP since February 2022, most recently finalised 30 June 2025 across BTC, ETH, SOL, USDC, USDT, XRP and ADA.",{"key":15,"status":12,"note":45},"Cold\u002Fhot storage split is not disclosed; we could not confirm it from a primary source.",{"key":18,"status":19,"note":47},"Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution charter, CFTC DCM\u002FDCO\u002FFCM and SEC broker-dealer\u002FRIA registrations, and two EU MiCA CASP authorisations; settled with the CFTC for $1.25m in September 2021 and with the SEC for $30m in February 2023 over its U.S. staking-as-a-service programme, relaunching on-chain U.S. staking in January 2025.",{"key":22,"status":12,"note":49},"No insurance-fund figure is publicly disclosed. Our research found no SAFU-equivalent named fund, which is a disclosure gap rather than confirmation that none exists.",{"key":25,"status":19,"note":51},"No confirmed major security incident found in our research; Kraken has operated since 2011 with no reported breach costing customers funds.","\u003Cp>Kraken is the highest grade we publish, at A-, and the only exchange in this corpus whose reserve reports carry an outside accountant's name. It is not a clean sweep: two of the five factors are gaps in what Kraken tells you, rather than findings against it.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>What checks out\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Merkle-tree proof of reserves has been verified by third-party accountant Armanino LLP since February 2022 — most recently finalised on 30 June 2025 across BTC, ETH, SOL, USDC, USDT, XRP and ADA. An attestation is still not a full financial audit, but an independent firm putting its name to the numbers is the difference between \"we say we hold it\" and \"somebody else looked\". The licence book is unusually deep for crypto: a Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution charter, CFTC DCM, DCO and FCM registrations, SEC broker-dealer and RIA registrations, and two EU MiCA CASP authorisations. Kraken has operated since 2011 with no reported breach that cost customers funds.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Where the evidence stops\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>The cold\u002Fhot storage split is not disclosed, and we could not confirm it from a primary source. Neither is any insurance fund: our research found no SAFU-equivalent named cover, which is a disclosure gap rather than proof that none exists. The regulatory record also carries two settlements — $1.25m with the CFTC in September 2021, and $30m with the SEC in February 2023 over the U.S. staking-as-a-service programme, with on-chain U.S. staking relaunched in January 2025.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>How to read the grade\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>An A- is the best available on this rubric today, not a clean bill of health. It means the two hardest things to fake — independently attested reserves and a licence trail on public registers — are both present, and that what happens to your funds if the exchange is attacked is still something Kraken has not put in writing.\u003C\u002Fp>","Kraken safety review: A- — audited reserves, no insurance fund","Kraken grades A-, the best of the fifteen. Armanino has verified its reserve proofs since 2022 and it holds a Wyoming SPDI charter. No insurance fund disclosed.",[]]